Juan Pablo Montoya on Ferrari, Hamilton and Leclerc: “That simply won’t do!”

In the entertaining Dutch Grand Prix, Ferrari superstar Lewis Hamilton found himself in the slipstream of his team-mate Charles Leclerc. The seven-time world champion demanded that Leclerc be told to make way for him, Lewis.

Leclerc didn’t give it a second thought; he simply carried on at his own pace before pulling into the pits for a tyre change. Valuable seconds were lost, and Hamilton remains convinced to this day that this cost him a place on the podium.

Juan Pablo Montoya has watched these scenes several times. The 50-year-old dual national (Colombia/USA), who won seven of his 94 Formula 1 Grands Prix, comes to the following conclusion in AS Colombia: “In a similar situation, Mercedes handled it perfectly – they recognised the situation, they knew that Antonelli was faster, so the instruction was given to Russell to let Kimi through, and the Englishman proved himself to be a team player.”

Montoya, who finished third in the World Championship in 2002 and 2003, as well as being an IndyCar champion and two-time Indy 500 winner, then had harsh words for Charles Leclerc: “But what Charles did next opens Pandora’s box. He might as well have said over the radio straight away: ‘I’m above the team, I don’t agree with your approach, so I’m not going to make way either.’ That’s not on! It’s terrible, because it creates a negative atmosphere within the team; it creates completely unnecessary tension.”

But did that really cost Hamilton a podium finish? Montoya isn’t sure: “I don’t think it would have been enough. But if he’d been able to overtake Charles straight away, his chances of doing so would certainly have improved.”

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“Hamilton was half a second faster per lap at that point. Ferrari wanted to do the right thing, but Leclerc clearly had no intention of giving way to Hamilton.”