Juan-Pablo Montoya: Leclerc opened Pandora's box

      Juan-Pablo Montoya believes that Charles Leclerc, when he refused to follow the instructions from the Ferrari team to pit earlier than Lewis Hamilton during the race in Zandvoort, "opened Pandora's box," and the consequences of such actions could be quite unpleasant.

      On lap 42 of the Dutch Grand Prix, Hamilton was closely following his teammate's car, on fresher tires, thus completing laps faster than Leclerc. Charles was called to the pits, as a different tactical scheme was chosen for him compared to Lewis, who was vying for a podium position; however, Leclerc refused to turn into the pit lane.

      He did so later, only on the next lap, when his engineer insisted on it, repeating the order. Just then, Hamilton, in irritation, said over the radio a sarcastic phrase for which he later apologized: "Great way to lose time, guys! Good job!"

      After a while, he sarcastically inquired whether the team was trying to make him a "guinea pig" by offering him an obviously disadvantageous tactic. Ultimately, Hamilton was unable to reach the podium, finishing fourth.

      Although the seven-time world champion later publicly apologized to the team via social media, admitting he had overreacted, Montoya believes that this story may not end here and could have a continuation.

      In an interview with AS Colombia, the former Formula 1 driver compared what was happening at Ferrari to how the Mercedes team operated, as George Russell, upon receiving the team's instruction, let Kimi Antonelli, his teammate, pass, although he was also unhappy about it. Moreover, he was unable to catch up with the leading Lando Norris anyway.

      "This is already another side of what was happening with Mercedes. In that team, everything was done right, executing the plan excellently," said Juan-Pablo, who, by the way, did not always unconditionally follow the orders of the Williams and McLaren teams he raced for in the past. "But what Leclerc did when he refused to obey his engineer opened a terrible Pandora's box. In doing so, he announced to the team: 'I am above your orders, and if I disagree with something, I am not going to do it.' And that is terrible; it shouldn't be like that, as it spoils the atmosphere in the team and is fraught with dramatic consequences.

      However, I don't think Hamilton would have been able to reach the podium, even if he were a bit closer (to the top three). Besides, when he was behind Leclerc and trying to overtake him, he wore out his tire resources. In general, Ferrari should have explained to Leclerc the following: 'You need to pick up the pace by another four-tenths, or we will have to order you and your teammate to swap positions. You have two laps for this.'

      Since Hamilton was catching up to him at that moment, reducing the gap by half a second each lap, Leclerc needed to be told that either he would manage to speed up, or he would have to let his teammate pass, or he would be called to the pits. Instead of having these discussions over the radio, where everyone could hear their disputes...

      But that's racing, and it's quite normal that the relationships between teammates are not as good as people think. It's normal, and what happened in Zandvoort reminds me of how races went when I was racing in Formula 1 – the same eternal drama repeated every time."