Juan Pablo Montoya believes that Red Bull’s 2025 car, the RB21, isn’t as poor as it’s made out to be, although Max Verstappen is still doing an outstanding job extracting all the performance from it.
All the drivers who have driven the RB21 have described it as a difficult car to handle and manage; even Verstappen has complained about the characteristics of the car on several occasions.
Liam Lawson, who replaced Sergio Perez in 2025, was demoted from the second Red Bull seat after just two races due to his inability to adapt to the car. His replacement, Yuki Tsunoda, although he showed some potential at first, has struggled significantly in the last few races.
Yuki Tsunoda has scored just seven points since joining Red Bull at the Japanese Grand Prix, while Max Verstappen has won two races and claimed two other podiums in the same period.
The contrasting results between the two Milton Keynes drivers have led almost everyone to conclude that the RB21 is in fact an uncompetitive car — and that Verstappen’s incredible form is more a result of his talent than of a fast car. Montoya disagrees.
Juan Pablo Montoya’s words
Juan Pablo Montoya has repeatedly praised the four-time world champion for his impressive performances in what has been a challenging season. However, he is also convinced that the RB21 is actually quite fast, despite its flaws.
The former F1 driver said: “I don’t think the Red Bull car is as bad as people think. It’s a car built for Max. It’s a car that he can drive, and it’s certainly not easy to handle, but the car does what he wants it to do,” added the Colombian. “Look at Lewis [Hamilton] driving the Ferrari and how he steers the wheel — he’s not confident, and sometimes he’s right on the edge.”
“You never see Max unable to manage the car. You never see Max lose control. The only time this year when Max seemed to falter and looked out of control was when they put the hard tyres on in Barcelona at the end of the race. And then his pace was poor,” he explained.
“He was outside his comfort zone and got nervous. Aside from that, the car is competitive. It just has to be driven very differently from how others drive.”
Verstappen and Russell
Montoya then went on to praise Russell for his victory in Montreal ahead of the Dutchman.
He said: “Max is doing an incredible job. He’s an aggressive version of George [Russell]. George is a calmer guy. He doesn’t take many risks, but in terms of speed, you have to say what George did in Canada with that Mercedes was incredible.”
While Max Verstappen wasn’t able to pose a real threat to Russell in Canada, the former F1 driver expects him and Red Bull to be strong contenders in the Austrian GP — especially since Verstappen has won four of the last seven races held at Red Bull’s home track.
He stated: “I think Red Bull will be very strong in Austria because it’s the kind of circuit where you need a bit of traction, but it’s nothing crazy.”
“There are lots of flowing corners, a bit like in Japan, with long turns. And it’s the kind of circuit where Red Bull can shine. Max will be really tough to beat there again,” the Colombian concluded.
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