"Afraid of making decisions": Juan Pablo Montoya calls out McLaren over Qatar GP pit call

Juan Pablo Montoya has criticised McLaren for being "afraid of making decisions" with its Qatar Grand Prix strategy

Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has argued that McLaren is so "afraid of making decisions" that it is hampering Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's drivers' championship fight.

McLaren was the only team not to pit under the early safety car at the Qatar Grand Prix. While the Woking outfit argued at the time that it gave them more flexibility in strategy for the remainder of the race, it ended up being the wrong call. Many have pointed to the fact that pitting both drivers would have put one at a disadvantage, likely Norris, who would have been the second driver in a double-stack pitstop.

Piastri finished in second after starting from pole position, and Norris finished fourth after starting from second. Championship rival Max Verstappen claimed the victory. The drivers' championship fight will now come down to the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Norris continues to lead the standings but has only a 12-point gap to Verstappen in second, and Piastri trails the Dutchman by four points.

While debriefing on the race on the F1 TV Post-Race Show, Montoya was surprised by the Woking outfit's choices, first of all to not pit and secondly to put Norris on the hard tyre compound rather than the softs.

"I think honestly McLaren thought, 'Okay, we're still too close. We're going to have to double-stack. Oscar is gonna be fine, but we're sacrificing Lando here, and Lando might lose five or six places because he won't, you know, he's going to have to have maybe an unsafe release or find a hole.'

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

"And I think they were so afraid. They thought he had enough pace to get away with it. So that for me was the first surprise. The last surprise was Lando going to hards. After we spoke in practice, he hated them. He couldn't drive the car on the hards. They went to the softs, he looked really competitive, and the mediums looked really competitive. Hold Max a little longer and go to softs.

"I think they're so afraid of making decisions. They're so afraid of screwing it up that a lot of times, when you're afraid of making [bad] decisions, you end up making them."

McLaren took responsibility for the error and now looks to what will be a very tense season finale in Abu Dhabi.