F1 icon Juan Pablo Montoya believes that Mercedes are 'killing’ Kimi Antonelli after he crashed and 'drove too slowly' following his first two FP1 appearances at the Italian Grand Prix and Mexican Grand Prix.
Antonelli replaced George Russell behind the wheel in Monza, taking to the track in front of his home crowd. Later in the weekend, he was announced as Lewis Hamilton’s successor for 2025, but Friday was a nightmare day for the teenager who crashed at the Parabolica on his second flying lap.
Speaking about Antonelli on the W Radio YouTube channel, Montoya said: “Antonelli has the speed to be in Formula One, he has the ability to be in Formula One. The question is if he is well prepared enough.
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“He has done millions and millions and millions of laps compared to all the people who are racing next year except the guys in Formula One. The preparation that they did in F2 against the rest of the drivers, what Mercedes did in the old F1 cars, going to all of the tracks, two weeks, three weeks before each race, he is super prepared for each race, for each track.
“What happened in Mexico City for me, and we talked about the other time [in Monza], how slow it was in Mexico, I would say that is serious. In Italy, he came out and tried to beat the lap record on the first lap and broke the car.
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“And here he came out not to break the car slowly. So, they kill him for crashing and they kill him by driving slowly and that is the reality of this. You have to learn how far you can push and understand that balance.”
Wolff has since admitted that thrusting Antonelli into FP1 for the first time in front of the passionate Monza crowd may have been a mistake. However, the 18-year-old will need to adapt quickly to the rigours of F1 if he is to successfully replace Hamilton next season.
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Antonelli, however, remains positive about the experience. “Monza was emotional,” he told the Mercedes website. “It was one of my two home races, and there was so much hype around the whole weekend, and I guess you could say I learned a lesson the hard way with what happened in FP1!
“I enjoyed the couple of laps I did, especially in front of the home crowd. It is a memory I will have for a long time. Mentally it will help me to come back stronger, too. The team helped me so much. They taught me how to face that moment and get through it without worrying too much.”