Sebastian Vettel is criticised by many Formula 1 observers after his botched weekend in Monza. Quite a few are now of the opinion that he lost his number one status with Ferrari to Charles Leclerc. Some even believe that Vettel’s time in the top class is coming to an end.

But Juan Pablo Montoya thinks that Vettel can strike back again.

“I think he doesn’t like something in the car or this year’s tyres and Leclerc is able to better adapt,” Montoya told Motorsport-Total.com, part of the Motorsport.com (soon to be sold off) network.

“Vettel has to suffer to go as quick as the other guy. Because he has to suffer and he is not comfortable, he makes mistakes.

“When you’re not happy with the car and you push, mistakes happen.

“I don’t think it’s a mental thing. It is more a technical one.

“It’s about understanding, having someone on your side who’s able to find what’s going on.”

Montoya compares Vettel’s current crisis with his own time at McLaren in 2005 and 2006, which were not overly successful either. After four years with Williams, Montoya didn’t get along with the McLaren at all at the beginning of his time in Woking:

“[The car] did quite different things than I was used to,” he recalls. Among other things, he had to completely change the way he braked corners.

“It’s very complicated to change your driving style,” he knows from his own experience.

Vettel has a contract with Ferrari that runs to the end of 2020 but his struggles have led to speculation he could try to end that stint early.

However, Montoya believes Vettel can still recover, “if he wants to”.

“He’s going to have to get his head down with the team and work harder than he ever has,” said Montoya.

“The only way is working harder, doing something different to what he’s doing now.

“He must be used to working in a certain way, but right now it’s not working out for him.”

Clearly some balls have been left dangling poolside Sebastian?

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