"Park him" - Juan Pablo Montoya calls for Max Verstappen F1 punishment

Outspoken ex-Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has suggested that drivers should be banned from racing over "Mario Kart" criticisms of the new regulations. 

Prior to the Miami Grand Prix, drivers had been highly critical of the "artificial" nature of racing in the new F1 rules era, with the decision to overtake sometimes taken out of a driver's hands through the deployment strategy, as was the case for Lando Norris on Lewis Hamilton in the Japanese Grand Prix. 

Some of the heaviest criticism came from Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, with the former comparing the racing to the video game "Mario Kart", while the latter joked that he had spent time 'practising on Mario Kart', rather than training in the simulator.

"You've got to respect the sport," said Montoya on the BBC's F1 Chequered Flag podcast. 

"For me, what the drivers were doing, I'm ok with you not liking the regulations, but the way you were speaking about what you are living off and your own sport, there should be consequences for that."

Asked what those consequences should be, and whether Verstappen should be fined for saying something negative, Montoya answered: "Park him. Add seven, eight points to the licence."

As 1996 champion Damon Hill gasped and described the suggestion as "draconian", Montya continued: "Whatever you do after, you're going to be parked. I guarantee you that all the messages would be different. 

"I'm not saying don't say that you don't like the regulations, because if you don't like it, you have [the] complete right to an opinion."

For Miami, a series of alterations were introduced to improve the action and fix safety concerns during the start phase and in wet conditions. While there was a general agreement that these tweaks had moved things in the correct direction, several drivers - notably Verstappen and Lando Norris - remained steadfast in their criticism.

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Lance Stroll was heavily critical of things, describing the regulations as "fundamentally flawed", adding “I think we're miles off from where we should be". 

Voicing a counter opinion to Montoya's, Hill said: "I think the fans like the fact that the drivers are outspoken. The catch we've got is that actually, there is a relationship between the fans and their driver, and they like to hear them be outspoken."

In response, Montoya concluded: "And it's ok to be outspoken. I'm not saying don't be outspoken, but don't call an F1 car Mario Kart."