Juan Pablo Montoya has stated that Max Verstappen's father, Jos Verstappen, enjoys the races rather than being involved in the decision-making with Red Bull Racing.
Montoya mentioned that for Verstappen Sr., the new era of racing is really intriguing. This is because he raced at a time when none of the things that now racers have (the hybrid era) were available.
"I don't know I'm involved here so if he's involved at all I think he's more enjoying the ride than anything else," Montoya said.
Max Verstappen's racing influence comes from his family, especially from his father, Jos Verstappen, who was an F1 driver himself. Though he did not achieve much in his decade-long career, he sure has helped his son to achieve the world championship twice in a row. Max is also seemingly on the way to grab his third consecutive Formula 1 title in 2023.
His father is still regularly seen in the Red Bull garage, with the team. It has been speculated by fans that the sole reason for his presence is to ensure that Max Verstappen is winning and is kept on priority by the team.
However, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya doesn't feel so. According to him, the sport's new features are quite interesting to the drivers of the old era, and hence, Jos' presence is justified by his love for racing.
Montoya feels Max Verstappen doesn't require Verstappen Sr.'s assistance at this point
Max Verstappen has been breaking records since the 2022 season. Both he and Red Bull have been on a winning spree. He recently surpassed former F1 driver Sebastian Vettel to bring in the most victories for the team.
It is quite apparent that he is what one might call 'established'. Hence, Montoya feels that Jos Verstappen doesn't need to be on the team to ensure his son is winning.
"I think at this point we're maxed is and the background of Joss and when he raced it's just different times you know what I mean it's the hybrid systems all the things that go on nowadays are our foreign you know foreign objects for a lot of us," Montoya said.
Max Verstappen is leading the world championship in the 2023 season comfortably, having won four out of the first six races of the season. The only competition he has had was from his teammate Sergio Perez.
However, after the Monaco GP, the point gap between the two has further increased as the latter failed to score any points in the race. He now leads the Mexican by 39 points.