Juan Pablo Montoya criticized Charles Leclerc for not immediately following a Ferrari order during the Formula 1 Dutch GP. For the former driver, the Monegasque’s attitude opened a “horrible Pandora’s box” within the team.
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On lap 42, Lewis Hamilton was right behind Leclerc with tires four laps fresher and a significantly better pace. Ferrari asked Leclerc to stop at the pits while the two followed different strategies, but the Monegasque only pitted the following lap, after a second instruction. Hamilton reacted over the radio: “Great way to lose time, guys, good job.”
Montoya compared the episode to how Mercedes managed a position swap between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. “Mercedes did very well, executed very well. What Leclerc did by not obeying the engineer opened a horrible Pandora’s box, because he is telling the team: ‘I am above your orders and, if I don’t agree with something, I won’t do it’,” he told AS Colombia.
The Colombian does not believe Hamilton would have secured the podium even with a different execution, but understands that Ferrari did not offer the Brit the best possible opportunity. “He would have come much closer. And he wore out the tires a lot trying to overtake and follow Leclerc,” he assessed.
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In Montoya’s view, the team should have given the Monegasque an ultimatum. “You need to find another four tenths or we need to swap positions. You have two laps,” he exemplified. “Hamilton was taking half a second per lap from him. Find half a second, let him pass or we go to the pits.”
Despite the criticism, Montoya downplayed the impact on the relationship between the drivers. According to him, conflicts of this kind are normal in motorsport and do not necessarily mean a rift between Hamilton and Leclerc. “It’s racing. It’s normal that their relationship isn’t as good as people think or see on TikTok or Instagram,” he concluded.
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