Juan Pablo Montoya says Formula 1 teams are bluffing ahead of Melbourne

50-year-old Colombian Montoya was trackside at the Bahrain International Circuit for the third and final pre-season test with the new generation cars.

Speaking to Vision4Sports, the seven-time Grand Prix winner suggested the paddock is engaged in collective deception: “Apart from Aston Martin, most of the race cars look pretty awful. That either means nobody has found the philosopher’s stone, or everyone is holding back because they have discovered something but do not want to show it.”

Montoya expects significant aerodynamic development before the season opener in Melbourne and pointed directly at Newey’s influence: “The aero packages will change significantly between now and the start of the season in Melbourne.

"Knowing Adrian Newey, he will certainly wait until Melbourne to put the latest improvements for Aston Martin on track. So Adrian will not reveal anything at all during the test, absolutely nothing.”

Bookmakers like bizbet have Mercedes as favourites for this year's title, with their customers likely you be up amongh thre front runners, with geratest expectations focussed on Aston Martin.

Montoya, who competed in 94 Grands Prix and finished third in the World Championship in 2002 and 2003, dismissed early caution from Aston Martin: “Adrian Newey is always a pessimist. So it is difficult to predict what will happen with Aston Martin. I worked with Adrian at McLaren. Adrian will say that everything is fine, but he is never satisfied, he never lets up.”

He also weighed in on the debate surrounding Mercedes’ higher compression engine concept, which has triggered concern among rivals: “Why is Adrian Newey so good? Because he is the best at finding loopholes in the regulations. Why did Jenson Button become world champion in 2009? Because Ross Brawn discovered a loophole with the double diffuser, making the car by far the best, especially in the first part of the season.”

“Was it illegal back then? No. Was it ethically questionable? You could certainly say that. But what is this all about? This sport is about finding ways to work around the rules. That is typical Formula 1.”

For Montoya, testing times in Barcelona and Bahrain reveal little: “At the moment, we are really witnessing bluff and double bluff. It is almost like playing hide and seek. Everyone is acting as clueless as possible. They're all bluffing”

“Max is very good at reading a situation and saying, ‘Hey, I can let the car coast a little longer here, save some energy and then attack later.’ The game now comes down to working with a certain amount of energy and how a driver uses that energy each lap will be crucial. And I think Max will be very strong in that respect," predicted the Grand Prix and Indy 500 winner.