Juan Pablo Montoya believes Max Verstappen was treated differently to his rivals over Formula One’s swear-gate last season. The Red Bull star was handed community service for swearing during an FIA press conference.
Montoya says Verstappen was treated like a “terrible person” and feels the reaction was far different when Charles Leclerc was involved in a similar episode.
Had Mercedes been the driver to swear, Montoya suggests that there might not have been such a huge furore.
“Charles Leclerc did the same thing. I understand because of the young audience F1 has, but nowadays they all hear it and use it - in school, in kindergarten,” Montoya told Casino Apps.
“There's a line you can draw for everything, but these press conferences, they're not live. If it happened live then I would understand it, as you're in front of millions of people.
“On a Friday or Thursday press conference, I just don't understand it. You want personalities, you want to see people express themselves. But, it's down to how the media handles it. They can easily make a big deal out of it.
“For example, if it had been George Russell who had sworn, the reaction would've been very different if it had been Max. You could hear when Charles did it, everyone shrugged and let it go. When Max did it, everyone treated him like he was a terrible person."
Verstappen’s use of the word ‘f***’ at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in September earned him a period of community service.
The punishment provoked strong debate, with some F1 figures, including Montoya, believing that FIA bosses were risking losing drivers’ personalities.
Lando Norris later pointed out that sometimes swearing was caused by the emotional toll of a highly competitive sport.
When Verstappen spoke in his next press conference, he barely uttered a word. The world champion offered to speak to journalists outside the media suite.
But Russell and Toto Wolff believe drivers should act as role models. The Mercedes driver says he has a young nephew who engages with F1 content online.
And Wolff added: "I have a thing about the swearing. Like George said, he has an eight-year-old nephew that go-karts and watches all of them. I have a similar seven-year-old that go-karts, that watches everything.
"It's a first time, a few months ago, that he said, what the [f***].
"I said, where did you hear that from? 'From the drivers'. So, you know, I have my conflicts with Mohammed ... I disagree with many of the other things that he came up with. But on that one, I think, you know ... it's pretty rude. For me, I'd be happy to sanction that even more."
