What is Juan Pablo Montoya smoking? "The [Formula 1] show itself is pretty amazing in my opinion. I like it."

JPM's latest pearl of wisdom might've been an April Fools' skit had it not been today. Amid a word salad he tossed up that begs belief, Montoya actually said this in his latest dispatch: "The show itself is pretty amazing in my opinion. I like it."

As a long-time fan, I am perplexed and astounded by his amazing self-implosion, prompting the questions: Is Monty off his meds? What is he smoking? Or is he snorting some of Colombia's finest? Has he gone bonkers? Is his piggy bank filling up fast of late? What the hell is going on with this guy whose views we respected so much?

Of the new 2026 F1 rules, this is what Montoya had to say: “The problem is there's too much noise around the power units. At the end of the day, for me, that is irrelevant. The show itself is pretty amazing in my opinion. I like it. This is the problem. A lot of people used to see DRS as real racing and real overtakes.

"Now you see them in different places because people are using the energy in different places, and they're not validating that as an overtake. That is bullsh*t. In the same way you used the wing before, now you can use the power in different ways.”

“Instead of being in the same rhythm as everybody, a driver can say to himself, ‘I’m going to break the rhythm here, I'm going to take the risk.’ And even if I run out of energy, I might be able to pull it off in the next two corners where I don't get passed."

Montoya continued: "The only thing they need to make sure is, in the places where you normally wouldn't see overtaking, they need to figure out how to control the amount of energy used to avoid safety concerns for the drivers. I do believe that needs to be addressed.

“The hard thing when you do that is you're taking racing away. The other side of it is you've got to stick to your race line. When you see a car coming, you can't react to the car. You can't close the door. I'm not blaming Colapinto here because he did the right thing based on the rules, but now do the rules need to change? Do you really want to go down this rabbit hole, where people can't defend, where people can't race?

"You make one change and it has a consequence elsewhere. This is the reality of it. It's not a black and white solution. If you take 30% of the power away and the cars run three or four seconds a lap slower, what are the drivers going to say next? That this is not Formula 1, that we're supposed to be the fastest cars in the world, and now with this power unit, we might as well be racing Formula 2 cars," Montoya concluded.

Regarding Verstappen, the backdrop exploded after the Colombian's recent comments about the four time F1 World Champion who has made clear his frustration with energy management,  aclled it anti-racing and labelled the new cars as Formula E on steroids. All along loudening voices across the paddock and media - including the GRANDPRIX247 Team - have questioned the direction of the sport.

But undeterred, Montoya doubled down, rejecting any suggestion the FIA should intervene and instead shifting responsibility squarely onto Verstappen and Red Bull. “I understand what Max is saying. The energy recuperation is crazy. The amount of coasting is really annoying, and I get that. They all knew this four years ago though. He might be right, he might be wrong, but that's what the rules are now. And this is the ball he has been given to play with.”

The technical argument, in Montoya’s view, leaves little room for compromise, with any change triggering trade-offs that undermine the current concept.

He pointed out: “Put it this way, if they decide to change something today, let's say you take half of that electric power away and you could run wide open through the high speed corners, but at 40 kms slower because you have 30 % less power, is that better? You probably end up going at the same speed through the corners, but you're not recharging.

"This is the problem. You can’t push the ICE engines anymore; you can’t make it have 300 more horsepower without making it bigger. It's not designed for that. You could make the car is heavier and modify the regulations by having a battery twice the size. But then the cars will be 30 or 40 kgs heavier again.”

That framing strips the debate back to its core. There is no clean solution without creating another limitation elsewhere. Montoya explained: “If Max really wants to go, I don't think F1 or anybody can do anything about it because the way the rules are, you’re going to have electric power for the next four years. I understand his frustration, but the problem is that he's come from winning races to be in the fifth team.

"He has never been in this position like this before in his career. He has always been really competitive. So, from a guy that has always been really competitive to be in mid pack every week can’t be easy.” Let's say F1 is really concerned about him leaving, and they go, ‘Okay, we need to make a change.’

"And F1 and all the bosses called Max over for a meeting and asked him what he wanted. How do you physically fix it? Should Max be the only voice that's heard? There are 21 other drivers. The other day I said, if he wants to leave, he should leave. I did that, I left F1. I got murdered for saying that about Max, the amount of hate and comments I got was unreal.”

Why is Montoya surprised? He is so off the mark on this one. Therein lies a message to Montoya that he is on the wrong side of the fence on this one by a wide margin.

Montoya also turned his focus to Red Bull, arguing their current struggles are rooted in their own design choices rather than the rulebook itself, with weight emerging as a defining limitation under the new regulations.

He warned: “Red Bull built a heavy car, the same as Williams did, and they're paying the price. I guarantee you from the first run in Barcelona, they've been looking at data and trying to find ways of how to achieve the best racing possible and keeping everybody happy. But you can't change things just to satisfy three drivers and three teams if the other seven are happy.”

He warned: “You can't go to Mercedes or McLaren after how good they ran last week, and say we're going to change the rules because Max is not happy. We're going to make the cars 20 kilos heavier so Max and Red Bull is competitive. You can't do that. Red Bull built a heavy car, the same as Williams did, and they're paying the price. It's tough and it's hard because you might be competitive for five laps, and you're bleeding pace when everybody else's cruising.”

The divide is now clear. The rules are locked, the competitive order is shifting, and the noise around Verstappen is only getting louder. Montoya’s untenable stance adds pressure rather than relief, reinforcing a reality that Formula 1 is not about to change course for one driver, nor for the sport's true fans and believers. (Quotes provided by Casinostugen)