Juan Pablo Montoya has publicly expressed his opinion on who truly deserves to be Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull Racing, suggesting that a different driver, rather than Yuki Tsunoda, would be the better choice to partner the reigning World Champion.
Red Bull Racing are once again facing a driver conundrum that doesn’t appear to have a long-term solution.
Max Verstappen is entering his 10th season racing for Red Bull after one of the team’s infamous mid-season switches.
He took Daniil Kvyat’s seat at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, won the race, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Verstappen has had plenty of teammates during his time racing for Red Bull, each with a varying degree of success.
Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez spent several seasons alongside the 27-year-old, while the likes of Liam Lawson and Pierre Gasly failed to complete a single campaign.
Perez’s exit was confirmed at the end of last season after being outscored by nearly 300 points, but the combination of Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda in Red Bull’s second seat looks set to easily surpass that gap this year.
Tsunoda’s future is said to be safe until the end of the season, despite the Japanese driver failing to score a point in his last three outings.
Former F1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya believes Tsunoda isn’t the man who should be in Red Bull’s second seat.
He instead pointed to Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar as team principal Christian Horner’s best option.
Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images
Juan Pablo Montoya suggests Red Bull test Isack Hadjar in Yuki Tsunoda’s F1 seat
Montoya was speaking about Hadjar on the MontoyAS Podcast after the Canadian Grand Prix and suggested: “What happens is that there’s no choice there.
“Yes, Helmut decides he wants Hadjar at Red Bull, Hadjar will drive for Red Bull, whether Hadjar wants to drive the Red Bull or not.
“And the person who really should be there is Hadjar. Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if they suddenly tried Hadjar for a few races this year, you know?
“That could be it. Yeah, come on, let’s try it for a few races to see if the result changes, to see if we have to look at the internal decision, and that’s it.
“I don’t know what the contract with Yuki will be like. Suddenly, if the contract with Yuki is more solid and he has to be there until the end of the year.
“The problem is that Honda won’t be there next year. So, we’ll see, it’s very complicated.”
How Isack Hadjar has impressed Helmut Marko after his first 10 Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends
Whether Hadjar wants to become the next driver to try and take on the challenge of partnering Verstappen is yet to be seen.
Hadjar’s contract runs out at the end of the season, but it would be almost inconceivable to imagine that he doesn’t get offered an extension.
If Hadjar is going to be promoted to Red Bull next season, one of the people he needs to impress is Helmut Marko.
Marko wasn’t enthralled by Hadjar’s formation lap spin in Australia, but since then, the Frenchman has gone from strength to strength.
Hadjar has impressed Marko with his media appearances and the positive image he’s quickly creating among fans.
It’s believed that Hadjar is Red Bull’s favoured candidate for Tsunoda’s seat next season, but an awful lot can change between now and the end of the season.
