Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya believes McLaren will emerge as Mercedes’ primary challenger at this weekend’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, despite the Woking outfit’s struggles in Monaco.
Mercedes arrives in Barcelona with impressive momentum, led by championship leader Kimi Antonelli’s run of five consecutive grand prix wins, but Montoya expects a renewed threat from Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
McLaren endured a difficult Monaco Grand Prix, with Norris’s retirement and a fifth-place finish for Piastri. However, the Colombian insists the team’s aerodynamic strengths will return to the forefront in Spain.
“We went through all the street courses and everything. So, people will start bringing upgrades here. They’re going to look at Austria, and they’re going to look at Silverstone to bring new parts because these tracks are all about downforce,” Montoya said during the F1 TV Weekend Warm-Up show, alongside former Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas and former IndyCar driver James Hinchcliffe.
“You look at the McLarens, for example, they really struggled in Monaco, but I think they’re going to be the closest competitors to Mercedes here. I think their aero package is really, really strong.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
“I think for them it’s a big wake-up call. We need to figure out why were we so bad in Monaco and figure it out. But aero-wise, they seem to do a really good job. We need to see if they have the new front wing here, if they have all the parts. So, we’ll see.”
While Antonelli leads the drivers’ championship with 156 points, Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Charles Leclerc follow in second to fourth with 90, 88 and 75 points, respectively. Piastri and Norris sit fifth and sixth in the standings, both on 58 points.
The Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix marks the seventh round of the 2026 season and rounds out the double-header with last weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
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