F1 legend backs Max Verstappen’s ‘British bias’ claim: “You get a reputation”

F1 legend Juan Pablo Montoya has sided with Max Verstappen’s claim that there’s an element of ‘British bias’ in the sport.

Verstappen has grown increasingly frustrated with the officiating in F1 1, particularly following a number of penalties he’s received in recent rounds.

Most notably, Verstappen was hit with a 10-second time penalty for colliding with Oscar Piastri at the first corner in Abu Dhabi.

This prompted an aggressive radio message from Verstappen, where he took a shot at the stewards.

Verstappen said over team radio: “Can we ask for 20 seconds? Stupid idiots.”

The Dutchman believes the broadcasters are part of the problem as well.

He told the Press Association earlier this year: “The problem in F1 is that 80 to 85 per cent of the media is British. And I did feel that some things which were written about me were not fair.

“I am not going to sit here and single out one broadcaster, but I just had to laugh about what was said. I was like: ‘Whatever.’

“At the end of the day, yes, [I have four titles] and they are the ones in front of a microphone.”

Montoya relates to Verstappen’s complaints

Montoya, who raced in F1 in the early 2000s, admitted he could “identify with it so much” when he heard Verstappen’s remark about having the “wrong passport”.

Montoya told Instant Casino: “I think the right question is, whether Mohammed Ben Sulayem is trying to clean the house? If you're really the body that controls the rules and does everything, there cannot be any favouritism.

“I watched the Qatar GP in English. Lando made the mistake of not lifting and they, the commentators, go, ‘It's outrageous that he gets a penalty.’ Or if Lando makes a mistake, they say, ‘Oh that’s very rare.

“Look at when Checo Perez spins. Looking at it from the outside, you ask, ‘He spun, but he doesn’t have any drive in the car. Did he really just spin, or did something fail in the car when he gassed it?’

“Because there's no reason for the car not to work after you spin. He didn't hit anything. But automatically the British commentators go, ‘He just spun. It's just a lack of talent. He shouldn't be driving.’

“When Max said that he had the ‘wrong passport’ I could identify myself with it so much.”

“You get a reputation”

Like Verstappen, Montoya was fiercely aggressive and not afraid to push the boundaries when it came to wheel-to-wheel racing on track.

The Colombian driver previously questioned the stewards’ severity of the penalties handed out to Verstappen in Mexico.

Montoya feels there’s “always been inconsistency” when it comes to decision-making by stewards in F1.

“I do agree there's always been inconsistency,” he explained. “If the FIA don’t like you, normally what happens with a race steward is that if you are penalised for an incident, the next time you're there, 90 per cent of the time even if you're innocent they're going to penalise you because you have previous history.

“In their mind, they cannot erase what you did before. You get a reputation. Even if you already paid the penalty.

“It’s like if you’ve stolen some money and you go to jail, you leave jail, money goes missing somewhere, and the next time a cop catches you, they're going to assume you did it. That's the deal.”