Verstappen hit by brazen ‘crash’ accusation

Juan Pablo Montoya believes Max Verstappen would rather crash with an F1 rival than lose to them, a preference he feels was on display last season.

The Colombian, who raced in F1 between 2001 and 2006, highlighted how "shocked" people were by the Red Bull driver's conduct on track.

With his team faltering last term, Verstappen found himself in close combat far more frequently than in the two campaigns prior, which he won with relative ease.

This led to a number of on-track skirmishes, particularly with his closest drivers' championship challenger, McLaren's Lando Norris.

He ultimately prevailed in that fight, but to some, those incidents harmed the 63-time grand prix winner's reputation, even if his fourth championship is considered by many to be his best so far.

In Montoya's eyes, the clashes were almost inevitable, given the Dutchman's approach to wheel-to-wheel racing.

"Max doesn’t like losing," the 49-year-old told OnlineCassino. "And Max is a guy who would rather crash than let you beat him.

"We saw it at the end of last year where he did things that people were shocked by. We were asking ourselves: ‘Why did he do that?'"

Verstappen was 'taking no prisoners'

The ex-Williams and McLaren driver contrasted that perception against the opinion held of Verstappen when he was going toe-to-toe with Lewis Hamilton in 2021.

The seven-time grand prix winner alluded to a double standard, suggesting the questioning of "the guy that is winning" is a new phenomenon. 

"When he was going against Lewis and taking no prisoners, everybody thought: 'Oh great. Finally someone is standing up to Hamilton', Montoya said.

"Now the positions are reversed. And you look at it and now when the guy that is winning does something dodgy, they question it. That’s a new thing."