F1 fans reacted after former McLaren driver Juan Pablo Montoya said Lando Norris needed to be more aggressive in his battles against Max Verstappen. The British driver has faced criticism for being a bit too nice while battling his championship rival on the track this season and has come second best on most occasions.

The McLaren driver had come out on the wrong side after clashing with the Red Bull driver in Australia and lost position to him after a post-race penalty in Austin. In an interview with InstantCasino, the Colombian spoke about Norris showing “too much respect” for his friend Max Verstappen on the track and said:

“When you have a guy like Lando Norris who is very fast and a very clean driver, you can’t go trying to fight a championship against Max with Lando saying how much respect he has for him and he’s the best driver in the world. I really like Lando, but he needs to speak a little less and not play the victim.You won’t win by playing the victim. You might win some battles, but you are going to lose the war. We will see more fireworks in Brazil. At some point, Lando needs to stand his ground and say, ‘Screw you, I can crash into you and it’s ok.’”

F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to Montoya’s comments about Norris’s wheel-to-wheel racing combats against Verstappen, with one on X saying:

“Lando Norris doesn’t have the dawg in him.””That’s why JPM is great!!” another said.”Should have done that 8 races ago. Day late and a dollar short now,” a third fan wrote.

Here are some more reactions:

“Another driver with massive balls and again it isn’t a driver from England.””Unfortunately, Lando doesn’t have it in him. Absolutely no way would Senna, Schumacher, or any of the other greats let Max get away with what he has done,” a fan said.”I agree Norris, due to his friendship with Max, is not able to take the fight to Max,” another wrote.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team and Norris believe in clean and fair racing, not changing the British driver’s racing style.

McLaren team boss comments on Lando Norris’s driving style

As per ESPN, the Italian Andrea Stella said:

“Lando — we like, we approve, we confirm the way you go racing. It’s not for you to go there and try to find justice yourself. You go racing in a fair, sportive way as you do and then there needs to be a third party, that is the stewarding, that will say whether some maneuvers are correct or not.Don’t be desperate, [you] don’t have to prove anything. You go racing fair and square. This is what we want from Lando, this is what Lando wants from himself.”

Lando Norris trails Max Verstappen by 47 points in the driver’s championship with four races and two sprints remaining in the 2024 season.