Montoya backs Red Bull resurgence after Verstappen's Canadian GP podium battle

Max Verstappen’s hard-fought third-place finish at the Canadian Grand Prix has prompted former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya to declare that Red Bull is “for sure coming” back, with the Austrian Grand Prix on 26-28 June identified as a key marker for the team’s recovery.

Speaking on the F1 TV post-race show, Montoya pointed to the Laurent Mekies-led team’s ongoing effort to reduce excess weight from its car as evidence of genuine progress. He suggested the gains were visible across both Red Bull entries, with rookie Isack Hadjar also impressing despite drivers complaining about tyre temperature management throughout the weekend.

“They said by Austria, they’re supposed to have the car completely on weight, not overweight,” Montoya said. “This is one of the worst circuits to be overweight — the penalty here is huge for the weight. So they’ve done a really good job.”

Montoya was particularly impressed by Verstappen’s defensive driving late in the race, during which the Dutchman held off seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton in a tense battle for second place. “It was really cool to see how good Max was defending there at the end. And he defended well, and he attacked. I thought he was going to go for it, and I’m going, ‘Oh, I don’t think Lewis is going to move this time.’” Hamilton ultimately finished second.

On the tyre situation, Montoya acknowledged a double-edged dynamic. “The tyres were, in a way, good because you’re not overheating the tyres, but bad because they’re getting to the point that sometimes you get to the corner and you have no grip.” He also noted that Hadjar recovered strongly after his pitstop, taking nearly two seconds out of Kimi Antonelli in a single lap.

Not everyone shared Montoya’s optimism. 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, appearing alongside him on the broadcast, urged caution about reading too much into Red Bull’s Montreal showing. “It’s hard to take today because it was so cold,” Villeneuve said. “It’s not a natural racing weekend in that sense. It’s not a normal track either.”

Villeneuve also noted that Red Bull had been running their car too stiffly, which caused bouncing, and suggested the added fuel load at the race start may have inadvertently improved their setup. “We’ll have to see once you get back into the higher temperatures and how everything works out,” he added.

The Austrian Grand Prix, held at Red Bull’s home circuit in Spielberg, will offer a clearer picture of whether the team’s weight-reduction programme has translated into a genuine performance step under more representative conditions.