Former Components 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya believes Kimi Antonelli is maturing quickly and turning into very comfy racing on the entrance of the pack, which he warns needs to be a priority for the remainder of the grid.
Antonelli continued his sensational 2026 marketing campaign on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, claiming his fourth consecutive grand prix win. His victory, mixed along with his team-mate George Russell’s retirement, has prolonged the Italian driver’s lead within the standings to 43 factors.
Commercial
It was not simply his race end result that caught Montoya’s consideration, however moderately the best way wherein Antonelli carried out himself after the race. Russell’s retirement got here after a number of laps of a tense battle with Antonelli for first place, and when the 19-year-old driver crossed the road, he admitted over the staff radio that it wasn’t the best way he needed to win that one.
Talking on the F1 post-race present, Montoya applauded Antonelli’s capability to deal with the strain. “Yeah, it simply reveals how rapidly he is maturing, how good he is moving into that position and the way comfy he is moving into that position.
“That is the regarding half for the entire paddock, is how comfy he’s successful, and whenever you’re comfy successful, it is so arduous to cease you.”
Commercial
The second got here after a extra fraught dash race on Saturday when his frustrations acquired the higher of Antonelli. He complained a number of occasions over staff radio that Russell had pushed him off the observe in one other battle, which staff chief Toto Wolff rapidly shut down, urging the younger driver to put it aside for a personal dialog.
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya
Montoya famous Antonelli’s change in mindset from Saturday. “I believed it was wonderful. I believe the race between them was wonderful,” he mentioned of the Mercedes drivers. “Initially, it appeared like George had him lined for over a second, and unexpectedly, they’re racing one another, passing one another.
Commercial
“It was most likely out of the hairpin at Flip 10 once more; each of them had been struggling on the brakes there. The man main, it appeared like they did not have a ok reference or the circumstances had been altering, or the tyres had been on the restrict as a result of they had been lacking the nook.
“Everyone was lacking Flip 10 lots, and that simply made it extra fascinating. I believe aside from the small mistake Kimi made on the braking there, and he averted it properly, his mindset was higher than yesterday.”
To learn extra Motorsport.com articles .
