Seven-time F1 grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya has stated he would have "put Liam Lawson in the barrier" if he were in Max Verstappen's shoes on Friday.
"And Max stayed there anyway, so he said, 'You're going to stay there, then I'm going to drive you off the track'.
"Liam went deep and used the whole track, then Max said, 'I'm going to cut the track and run over you'.
If I'm sitting in Liam's position, I think what Liam did was the right thing.
"If I'm in Max's position, I would have put him in the tyre [barrier]."
Seven-time F1 grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya has stated he would have "put Liam Lawson in the barrier" if he were in Max Verstappen's shoes on Friday.
The duo collided during the second practice session as they ran side by side through the stadium section around the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
The incident did not go unpunished by the stewards, with both drivers now set to serve one-place grid penalties for Sunday's race.
While Montoya felt that Lawson had a right to stand up for himself when Verstappen attempted to overtake, he stated he would have been even more aggressive if he was in the Dutchman's car.
"I look at that and I understand that Liam felt that it was a late lunge, that it was a necessary late lunge, and he still made the corner," Montoya told F1 TV.
"And Max stayed there anyway, so he said, 'You're going to stay there, then I'm going to drive you off the track'.
"Liam went deep and used the whole track, then Max said, 'I'm going to cut the track and run over you'.
"You're not going to back off. If I'm sitting in Liam's position, I think what Liam did was the right thing.
"If I'm in Max's position, I would have put him in the tyre [barrier]."
[Article continues below]
