'Difference in balance between Perez and Verstappen’s car surprised me'

Perez went horribly wrong during qualifying at Silverstone, finishing no further than a 19th time. The Mexican started from the pit lane a day later after making changes to his car under Parc Fermé. It did not help him into the points. Perez finished 17th - partly because of a too-early pit stop to intermediates.

Montoya finds it remarkable that Perez started the season with four podium finishes in the first five races, but that since the Grand Prix at Imola (midway through) May, things have just not been going smoothly. The 48-year-old Colombian is looking for an explanation.

"The difference in balance between Checo's car and Max's surprised me," Montoya interjected to W Radio Colombia. "When you see Checo's car and Max's car on the onboard cameras, how Max's car gets through the corners and Checo's car doesn't [at all].... It's impossible to go faster [for Perez]."

Perez not happy

"Internally, people are shouting that the car is the same. There is a need to understand what is going on because suddenly he [Perez] is on the other side of the line. He may shout 'No, no, no, everything is fine'. But, 'Everything is fine' actually means that something is lacking with the car," Montoya said.

This article was written in collaboration with Olly Darcy