Max Verstappen has been backed over his argument that there is a British bias in F1.
The four-time world champion recently made the claim having regularly fallen the wrong side of FIA stewards this season, and was given another time penalty in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Dutchman hit back at criticism from UK commentators and pundits over his driving style, implying their opinions are based more on his nationality than his behaviour.
And now Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who competed in F1 from 2001 to 2006, has claimed he can resonate with the feelings of the Red Bull man.
Montoya cited the penultimate race of the season in Qatar in his argument, where Norris was given a 10-second sanction for ignoring a yellow flag.
Five other drivers also fell foul of the stewards, but the former McLaren and Williams man said the pundits weren’t neutral in their assessments.
“I watched the Qatar GP in English,” he told Instant Casino. “Lando made the mistake of not lifting and they, the commentators, go.
‘It's outrageous that he gets a penalty’. Or if Lando makes a mistake, they say, ‘Oh that’s very rare’.
“Look at when Checo Perez spins. Looking at it from the outside you ask, He spun, but he doesn’t have any drive in the car. Did he really just spin, or did something fail in the car when he gassed it?
“Because there's no reason for the car not to work after you spin. He didn't hit anything. But automatically the British commentators go, ‘He just spun.
It's just a lack of talent. He shouldn't be driving.’ When Max said that he had the ‘wrong passport’ I could identify myself with it so much.”
Montoya, who had seven F1 race wins, also called on the FIA to treat all drivers equally. And he also suggested the current FIA president should be subjected to more scrutiny.
“I think the right question is, whether Mohammed Ben Sulayem is trying to clean the house?” he added. “If you're really the body that controls the rules and does everything, there cannot be any favouritism.”
Montoya, 49, was also a controversial figure during his stint in F1. His early time at Williams was plagued by a series of accidents, and his relationship with the team deteriorated when he verbally abused engineers over the radio, believing that pit stop tactics during the 2003 French Grand Prix set up his team-mate Ralf Schumacher for victory.
He continued his own motorsport career up until 2022, when he competed in the Indianapolis 500. He also made a one-off return to the racing track this year, at the NASCAR Go Bowling at The Glen event.
