Photo: Race Pictures

Montoya sees clear 'wake-up call' for McLaren: 'Drivers are p*****'

12:32, 03 Dec

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byKada Sarkozi

Juan Pablo Montoya saw p***** McLaren drivers after the Qatar Grand Prix.

"It’s a big wake-up call."

- Juan Pablo Montoya

Max Verstappen won the Qatar GP, while the two McLaren drivers, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, had to settle for second and fourth place after the Woking-based team opted for a different strategy to what everyone else did.

As a result, the Dutchman now trails Norris by only 12 points in the drivers' standings, and now ahead of Oscar Piastri by six points.

Talking on F1 TV, former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya saw that Qatar should alert the Woking-based team.

Juan Pablo Montoya in the F1 paddock - Photo: Race Pìctures

He said: "It’s a big wake-up call, it’s a good: ‘Oh my god, we need to not be conservative, we need to execute.’

"I think all the drivers are p****** off. Lando knows he had a rough weekend, from the first practice he struggled. He was sideways, he just was never comfortable here."

Up next is the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Looking ahead, the Colombian added: "And I think going into Abu Dhabi, I think it’s going to be a very good track for McLaren again.

"Honestly, Max is going to give it the best, but the big question mark, if the Red Bull is better, when does McLaren going to go to Oscar and go: 'Hey we need to we need to work here together.'"

The F1 season finale

The three championship contenders are already set to share the stage on Thursday at the FIA press conference.

The weekend begins with FP1 on Friday, where Pato O'Ward will replace Oscar Piastri in the McLaren. See the complete schedule for the upcoming weekend here.

Check out the latest episode of GPblog's F1 Paddock Update here!

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