Former Williams and McLaren driver Juan-Pablo Montoya says that he perfectly identifies with Max Verstappen both as a driver and as a maverick singled-out for his overtaking maneuvers.
Montoya left Grand Prix racing in 2006 to return to America and race in NASCAR and then in Indycar where he had initially made his mark before stepping up to Formula 1.
Known for his determined attitude out on the race track which left little room for compromise, Montoya says the criticism of Verstappen reminds him of the similar disapproval he faced back in the day.
"The way Verstappen’s been treated, I got treated like that a lot," said Montoya.
"I would pass people. I left and then people realised two years later, ‘We’re missing that,’. I even got an award for overtaking move of the year, and I thought that’s my job, that’s what we’re all supposed to do!"
Indeed, as a reminder, in the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix, Montoya, in only his third F1 race, put one over on Michael Schumacher on the third lap of the race at Turn One.
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