Juan Pablo Montoya is of the belief that Ferrari have a quicker car than Red Bull at the moment and that is putting pressure on Max Verstappen.

Verstappen took victory at the Spanish Grand Prix last time out but perhaps only did so because Charles Leclerc had to retire with a power unit issue.

Indeed, the Monegasque was looking untouchable in Barcelona with him topping every practice session, taking pole in qualifying, and then booting it off down the road in his Ferrari to leave the rest to fight it out for second place in the Grand Prix.

Reliability issues reared their head for the first time for Leclerc this season, though, and that helped even things up slightly in that regard compared to Verstappen who has seen two retirements himself so far.

Max now leads the standings, then, but it was far from a serene race for him, with him clearly getting agitated over the team radio when his DRS was playing up during the Grand Prix in Barcelona.

Montoya believes the Dutchman is feeling pressure in the title fight, then, as he aims to get as many points as possible in the face of what the Colombian believes is a quicker car that Ferrari possess compared to the Red Bull right now:

“I think that a lot of pressure comes from the fact that the Ferrari has a quicker car at the moment. You know, they should’ve won the race. Leclerc should have won the race by a mile," he said to Vegas Insider.

“He [Verstappen] made a mistake, he put the car on the grass. He went off into the gravel on turn four. By doing so he put himself in a bad situation and then he starts getting angry with the team.

BARCELONA, SPAIN - MAY 22: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing prepares to drive on the grid during the F1 Grand Prix of Spain at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on May 22, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

BARCELONA, SPAIN - MAY 22: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing prepares to drive on the grid during the F1 Grand Prix of Spain at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on May 22, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

“Yes, they had an issue with the DRS, but after he had the issue that went on the radio, they told him: ‘Hey, you need to be careful because you are pressing the button twice or you are closing it yourself. So be careful with that’.

“And the team did a good job changing the strategy on him and after that, he executed well. They were not racing the Ferraris anymore, so it was a different race."