Is Christian Horner really the right guy to lead Ferrari?

Joining a chorus that includes Riccardo Patrese and Johnny Herbert, Montoya says the former Red Bull boss, Horner, has the experience and vision to rebuild a team that has lost its direction under Fred Vasseur, even Mario Andretti admitting this week he had lost face in the Frenchman.

Montoya said in the wake of polemics at Maranello under Vasseur's watch: “Christian Horner is the right answer for Ferrari, he’s the right answer for Haas, he’s the right answer for Aston, especially with Adrian there. He’s more than the right answer for Aston Martin, actually, because he’s worked with Adrian for many years and understands the environment that Adrian needs.”

Montoya added that Horner’s management style could transform almost any F1 organisation: “The only guy he couldn’t replace is Toto because what Toto’s done with Mercedes is very structured and very well organised. I think he could benefit a lot of people.”

If Ferrari were to approach Horner, Montoya warned, they would need to abandon their restrictive culture: “If you’re going to take Christian to Ferrari, you need to be open and let Christian do whatever he wants. And are they willing to let him do that? Are they willing to break culture and let him do that?”

The 1999 CART champion compared the situation to Ferrari’s golden era under Jean Todt and Ross Brawn. “The last time Ferrari was really good, Jean Todt was running the team, you had Ross Brawn. They went from running bad to running good. Then they left, and the team started running bad again.”

Montoya believes the Scuderia’s long-term problem is cultural, not technical. “At some point somebody should go back in history and say, ‘Look, we need to change our philosophy.’ The hardest thing there is the political side. It needs to be less political, and it needs to be about winning. It should all be about what do we need to do to be winners? What do we need to do to be competitive?”

Asked what Ferrari must change to be more effective in Formula 1, Montoya was blunt: “Ferrari need to change their philosophy and how everything is executed. They’ve changed a bit, but it needs to be less political, and it needs to be more about just pure performance. The culture needs to change. It needs to be more structured and less political. They seem to spend more time arguing about things than executing things.”

Montoya’s remarks echo a long-standing sentiment in the Formula 1 paddock that, more often than not, Ferrari’s biggest obstacle is not Red Bull or McLaren but itself.