Even Esteban Ocon did not try despite the victory being on the line.
Do rivals race Max Verstappen differently from other drivers?
Additional reporting by Pablo Hidalgo
Verstappen’s Sunday in Brazil went from anger when he almost tried to “destroy the garage” after a controversial red flag in Q2 in a rain-delayed Sunday qualifying session left him down in 12th place.
His frustration was exacerbated by a grid penalty for taking a sixth ICE for the season, the Dutchman forced to line up 17th on the grid.
But that didn’t stop him the Red Bull driver from clinching his first Grand Prix win in 11 races.
Working his way through the field with ease, he was up in second place when the race was red-flagged after Franco Colapinto crashed behind the Safety Car.
It was great timing for Verstappen as he was able to bolt on a new set of intermediate tyres without having to do a pit stop, as too could the Alpine drivers. The field lined up for the restart with Ocon leading the way ahead of Verstappen and Pierre Gasly.
But it wasn’t long before it was Verstappen, Ocon and Gasly as the reigning World Champion took the lead off Ocon without a fight from the Frenchman. Verstappen went on to win the race with a winning margin of almost 20 seconds.
Without taking anything away from Verstappen’s incredible race, Montoya wasn’t impressed that the Dutchman rivals just moved out of his way. It reminded Montoya of the Michael Schumacher who he too was such a dominant presence on the track that rivals just yielded to him.
“It’s a bit like with Michael when he was coming from behind,” the former F1 driver said to W Radio Colombia. “When that happened, people got out of the way.
“But if it’s someone else they go for the kill. It’s amazing how people race differently depending on who it is.”
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This season Lando Norris has been the only driver to regularly challenge Verstappen wheel-on-wheel for position, the highlights of those battles being Austria, Austin and Mexico.
While the McLaren driver came off second best at the Red Bull Ring where he retired with a puncture after they made contact, he admitted it was a lesson learned.
“We’ve gone over things a few times. I’ve learned many things,” he said in the aftermath. “I think a lot of stuff I was anticipating and knew about. You’re fighting against different people, fighting in different ways at the top comparing to when you’re a bit further back, like we have [been] the last year or so.
“But at same time, Max has a very different way of racing compared to a lot of others, and that’s some of the reasons why he’s a champion.”
He used those lessons on the track in Austin, but there he didn’t quite have the apex for the corner to have the right to it when he attacked around the outside, but came back in Mexico to pull off a move that would effectively stamp his mark as a title contender.
Alas, it went wrong for the McLaren driver in Brazil and with three races remaining the title is all but Verstappen’s as he leads by 62 points with 86 still in play.
