Juan Pablo Montoya warns Liam Lawson: “He’s not Max Verstappen”. Juan Pablo Montoya reacts to the on-track battle between Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez.

The Liam Lawson – Sergio Perez incident
The recent Mexican Grand Prix sparked several controversies that continue to linger ahead of the third consecutive race in the Americas: from the battle between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, with the time penalties imposed on the Dutchman, to the clash between Liam Lawson and Sergio Perez. A contact between the two drivers caused damage to Sergio Perez’s Red Bull in his home GP, denying him a possible comeback into the points.

Liam Lawson, who returned to F1 to replace Daniel Ricciardo in the United States Grand Prix at the Austin circuit, also made a rude gesture towards ‘Checo,’ which was met with sharp criticism over the on-track incident after the race. Ahead of the São Paulo GP, former driver Juan Pablo Montoya came to Perez’s defense.

“He’s not Verstappen”
A seven-time F1 race winner, the 49-year-old Colombian disapproved of Liam Lawson’s actions against Sergio Perez, sharing his thoughts with InstantCasino.com: “Lawson is trying to show that he thinks he’s better than Checo, despite having a worse car – he stated – Checo waited and tried to pass him without doing anything reckless. Lawson doesn’t understand that this isn’t F3 and that there are many important factors at stake, which could be one reason why Red Bull might lose the Constructors’ Championship. Checo was on his way to scoring points despite the five-second penalty at the start, but he didn’t. Part of the reason he didn’t is because Lawson hit him. It’s fine to be aggressive and make life difficult for him, but Lawson needs to learn when to back down. He’s not racing in touring cars, and he’s not Max Verstappen. He can’t get away with things like that.” – the Colombian pointed out ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix weekend.

Thoughts on Helmut Marko
Additionally, Juan Pablo Montoya didn’t hold back criticism of Red Bull’s advisor, Helmut Marko: “Marko wants drivers to be aggressive, and that’s what he looks for in young drivers, but you can’t behave like that – he added – you can’t do things like that. If you’re winning races, you can, but when you’re at the back of the grid, you need to finish races and score points. When you’re a driver, you don’t understand how important the Constructors’ Championship is. Liam was just trying to show off how good he is because he wants a seat at Red Bull.” – the former Formula 1 driver concluded.