Juan Pablo Montoya, former F1 driver and winner of six Grands Prix, bluntly asks Aston Martin to replace Fernando Alonso with Max Verstappen.
As we know, Max Verstappen is linked with Red Bull until 2028. However, it is rumored that a closure in his contract would allow him to leave the Austrian team before the end of his contract. And after all, a contract is meant to be broken when nothing goes right. We will not go so far as to insinuate that nothing is going well at Red Bull, Max Verstappen is, six races from the end of the season, leader of the Championship.
However, his name has already been mentioned by certain teams like Mercedes and Aston Martin. Why Mercedes? Well quite simply because the German firm was looking for a replacement for Lewis Hamilton. But when it comes to Aston Martin, the reasons are a little less obvious to prime on board.
In fact, Aston Martin is about to move into another dimension. Team owner Lawrence Stroll has invested heavily to give the Silverstone-based team the means to become a “Top Team”. New installations, new wind tunnel and above all new staff. Adrian Newey left Red Bull to join men like Dan Fallows (technical director) as well as Tom McCullough (head of engineering).
For his part, Juan Pablo Montoya declared to Gambling Zone that there is still a “missing ingredient” and he would like to see Max Verstappen put on a green suit and in fact become “the good pilot, a pilot who gets the job done.”
Also read: Verstappen: The “next step” of my F1 career “will be the last”
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While he praises Fernando Alonso’s driving skills, the Colombian believes “Fernando is not a long term option” for Aston Martin, even if it is a pilot “amazing”. He also recognizes that he is the only driver in the team likely to leave. “I don’t think Lance (Stroll) is going anywhere.”
Montoya added that the arrival of Max Verstappen at Aston Martin would propel the team to the forefront and give it a huge advantage
“Because then it’s a long-term project”, he said. “You have one of the best drivers in the world, if not the best, the best current driver in the championship. The better he performs, the more money he will make in the long term. Because the company will be worth even more”, concluded the former McLaren driver.
Read also: Rosberg: Aston Martin risks becoming the “PSG of F1”