Speaking with Thunderpick, former Formula 1 driver and seven-time race winner Juan Pablo Montoya has hailed Mercedes starlet Kimi Antonelli as the ‘best ever’ for his age, as he edges closer to clinching his maiden title with the 2026 Drivers’ Championship.
The Italian sensation, 20, collected his ninth win of the season at the United States Grand Prix in Austin ahead of Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. He now only needs to avoid losing by at least 23 points to George Russell or Lewis Hamilton at the Mexican Grand Prix to be crowned world champion on Sunday.
Montoya, who started 94 races for the likes of McLaren and Williams, also shared his thoughts on how Max Verstappen might be impacted by the exit of his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, Charles Leclerc taking the fight to his Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso’s controversial comments about the ‘lower third’ of the grid.
Q: What did you make of Kimi Antonelli’s drive, and is he the best driver you’ve seen at his age?
JPM: “He has to be the best ever for his age. If you look at the contrast from last year to this year, how much he’s matured. I think what really shows is when you give a young guy the support and the right environment and the time to develop, you’re going to see great things.
“I think it’s a good lesson to a lot of the academies that probably had really amazing talents, and they lost them for the rush of getting the next person in. If Antonelli had been in a different academy last year, the way he performed, there would have been a good chance there was no Antonelli this year in F1. And you probably would have missed one of the greatest talents in F1.
Q: Credit to Toto Wolff, then, really, for seeing him and persevering with him and everyone at Mercedes.
JPM: “Yes, especially given the amount of mistakes Kimi made last year, and the pressure he was under. They all supported him; they believed in him and said: ‘It’s okay. We’re with you.’
“There was never a question about his seat or his future. When you’re young, and you make mistakes, and you’re under pressure, and the team believes in you and says, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it, it’s part of growing, we believe in you,’ it’s easy.
“I think a huge thing that Mercedes has in its favour is Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington, Kimi’s race engineer, and before that with Lewis. What he did with Hamilton and what he did now, it’s crazy. He is amazing.
“He knows how to get the best out of the drivers. What Bono understands best is what the driver needs. The way he sets up and runs the car to get the driver comfortable in the window, is better than anybody else.”
Q: Is ‘Bono’ the unsung hero in this campaign?
JPM: “Yes. Between him and Toto. You can’t take any credit away from Antonelli, but it’s the whole Mercedes package and support behind this operation that has been unreal.”
Q: Antonelli is only two points away from the title. Nothing can stop him now, can it?
JPM: “Look at the points; Hamilton or George Russell need to win every race to stop him and [need] Kimi [to] come nowhere.
“In fact, I think Kimi could go on holiday, and there’s about a 90% chance he would still be world champion out of Mexico, sitting on a beach.”
Q: How much of an achievement would it be for Antonelli as the youngest ever champion?
JPM: “What he has done this season is magnificent. He started the year with Russell having the upper hand and looking so strong. But the maturity to manage the pressure has been remarkable. And that’s where Bono comes in. I think there was never an issue.
“For them, Russell being quicker wasn’t a surprise. It was something they needed to work through. And when Kimi managed to beat him, get that first win, and get that taste that ‘hey, I can do this,’ then his progress has been through the roof.
“There was never any panic, no need to go, ‘Oh my god, what are we going to do, what’s going to happen?’ It was really cool to see.”
Q: The remarkable thing about Antonelli is that he never seems to be nervous; he just takes things in his stride. He said to Wolff beforehand in Austin that there’s no problem, and he was going to enjoy the race.
JPM: “But there’s really no pressure on him. I think if they [him and Russell] were tied in points, then you would see a different Kimi. I think it was more that he wanted to show everybody why he is the guy that is going to be world champion this year.
“Everybody was expecting Max to go out and give the kid a lesson in Austin. That was what everybody felt like in that paddock – you could read it and feel it. I think, especially with Max starting on soft tyres and Kimi on mediums, it was like that golden opportunity to give it to him and say, ‘Yes, you’re world champion, but I’m still Max Verstappen.’ But Kimi got the launch, and he was never challenged.”
Q: Where does this leave Russell? Because he finished 54 seconds behind Antonelli. Is that a difference in talent, or is it just a measure of all his misfortune this season?
JPM: “It’s a measure of misfortune. I think in true speed, George is just as quick. But if you look at Kimi’s hands when he’s driving, Kimi is more on top of the car. Kimi’s not set; he doesn’t turn the wheel and hold it. Kimi’s there, and he’s always doing micro-corrections of the car the whole time. He’s very aware of where the car is.
“And George, I think he’s a guy that likes a car that is more settled. If the car is planted, George will drive it through quicker than anybody else. If he has the platform he wants, he can lean on it and wing it like nobody else.
“But the problem is with the lighter cars, and especially with the upgrades they have, the car is more unpredictable. As soon as you load it and the car goes, your foot comes off, you open your hands, and you untrust the car, whereas Kimi is comfortable with the car moving. I think that makes a big difference.”
Q: Is that a sixth sense that a driver has? Is it just something in your brain?
JPM: “It’s just a different way of coming up, the approach of your driving. It’s just a driving style.
“The other thing is, remember, Kimi struggled with more grip last year. With ultimate grip, Kimi wasn’t as good. This year, they took down a bunch of grip, and now it’s more in his window, whereas George was used to 100% grip. When you go to 70%, it’s like, ‘Is it really going to stay or not?’
“And it’s understandable. It happened to me when I went to IndyCar racing in ’99. They went to the small ovals, and they took like 60% of the downforce out of the cars compared to the road course wings. But I had never driven the high downforce.
“So, for me, I went out and I felt ‘okay,, this is the grip I have.’ But for some guys in the championship, it was like ‘oh, this thing’s going to kill me.’ Everybody struggled because they couldn’t trust the car because the car was moving around.
“For me, I didn’t care, and I won a lot of the races because I trusted the car since I was oblivious about the other feeling. I think it’s a little bit of that.”
Q: So, all is not lost for Russell, is that what you’re saying?
JPM: “No, not at all. But I think there’s a lot of work to be done. I think where they need to be more aggressive, especially the next few races, is to go all out on setups.
“I don’t know if they got it wrong this week because they were trying something, but you need to swing for the fences and try. I think they understand what the problem is and what they need to do, but it’s how to get it.
“That’s where Bono did a really good job with Kimi. For Kimi, they knew what they needed to do and he figured it out in Singapore, but George in Singapore was with the old kit.”
Q: Verstappen finished third, but he wasn’t happy about the tyres, the radio communications and the power unit. He said it would be better to communicate with sign language. Did he have a point, or was it because it cost him a place?
JPM: “His point is: there’s no Gianpiero on the radio anymore. That makes a huge difference.
“The messages were coming across, and I guarantee you Gianpiero Lambiase was with the other engineer, talking about, ‘Okay, make sure you mention this to him,’ just guiding him through the race.
“But when you hear him on the radio or on TV, Gianpiero talks with a really clear and loud voice, and it’s very easy to understand. His new engineer, Tom Hart, has a more timid, respectful voice.
“You can see Max wants to have respect for the relationship with him because he’s just starting. He and Tom are on what you could call their first date. What he had with Gianpiero, with GP, was a marriage where you had enough trust to tell the other person to go f*** yourself.
“It’s amazing the relationship they built and the success they had. But now he’s moving, so Max needs to understand – and I think he probably does understand – that it’s going to take a bit of time.
“I think the big thing here is to have an honest, clean relationship, talk after the race and say, ‘Hey, speak up, be clear, be certain. I believe in you, I trust you, you’ve done a good job.’ And he did do a good job on the weekend.
“I think the frustrating part there was that they did a very good Red Bull strategy, where they made an amazing call to be aggressive and beat Mercedes, but Mercedes didn’t take the bait. They did the right thing. The undercut was so powerful, and Max pushed like crazy in the undercut.
“But if you beat up the tyres the first five laps, then in the last four or five laps of that run, you’re going to pay the price. You’ve got X amount of grip, and you can either manage the tyres and be balanced, or you can use it at the beginning or at the end.
“He used it at the beginning for the undercut, and then at the end of that run, he was suffering with pace. It made it really hard, because when he pitted, Antonelli was right there again. He needed to take 18 seconds out of Antonelli. To a point, I thought he would. I didn’t think he was going to be there, but I thought he was going to probably be within four or five seconds of Kimi.
“The first couple of laps looked really strong, but it just didn’t hold up. From Max’s side, it was like, everybody went to the hards, we probably didn’t use the hards, and we made a mistake. And on the other side of the garage, Hadjar’s side, they went too hard.
“The meeting at Red Bull this week is going to be fun. You’re going to have one driver saying, ‘You screwed my race because you put me on hards,’ and the other driver saying ‘you screwed my race because you put me in the mediums, you didn’t give me the hards.’ I think the big thing they need to understand is why everybody else made the hard tyre work.”
Q: Do you think Antonelli vs Verstappen is going to be the big battle for next season? It’s going to be one of the great rivalries. Can you see it coming forward?
JPM: “Red Bull’s coming in the right direction, so you have got to say that Red Bull’s going to be there. Honestly, I think somebody that can pull a surprise next year is Ferrari. It might be Charles, it might be Lewis, but I think Ferrari has a shot, and they’re coming in the right direction.
“That car is probably the best handling car on the grid. They’re just lacking a bit of downforce and a bit of power. If they can find it, then watch them.
“If I had to do a regular pick for next year, I would probably put either Antonelli or Max to win the championship. But if I was going to go a little different, I would pick a Ferrari to be world champion next year.”
“Leclerc has finished ahead of Hamilton in three of the last four races, if you don’t count DNFs. Are you impressed with how competitive he’s been, and how he’s responded to Hamilton’s performances this year?
JPM: “Yes. Lewis made a huge step this year, it’s really good. And in a way, every time your teammate starts beating you, there’s two things. You either go under – a little bit like what happened to George this year, that they couldn’t come out of it – or you come out of the other end a lot stronger.
“Charles has learned a lot from Lewis, and it’s made him a lot better. If you look at Charles the last few weeks, it’s amazing how good he’s been.
“That move from Charles to pass Max was money, oh my god, it was a good move. That’s a hard place to commit there, that’s a hard thing to do, and it was really good to see.”
Q: Do you think Verstappen respects Antonelli given what he’s achieved? It’s hard to earn, but he must do…
JPM: “I mean, he [Verstappen] still wants to beat him [Antonelli]! I think the weekend just gone was a good opportunity for them to go at it. I think that’s why the aggression level of Max on that first lap, when he got passed by Charles as well, it was unreal.
“When he fought back, you could see he was hungry, and he really wanted to go and beat Kimi. It was good. It’s a shame they both didn’t get a good start going into Turn 1, because I thought if both would have got a really good start, it would have ended up in tears in Turn 1.”
Q: But Verstappen said he’d be happy to celebrate with lots of tequila with Antonelli in Mexico. That shows that there’s a decent relationship between them, doesn’t it?
“Yeah, they haven’t had any feuds together or anything like that.
“Of course, you still want to be the guy, but it’s hard not to like Kimi when he’s just a young kid living the dream, a little bit like Max was a few years ago.”
Q: Fernando Alonso said a third of the grid were low-quality drivers after his incident with Albon. Do you agree, and how do you evaluate Fernando’s performance? Is that just an old man raging against the light?
JPM: “No, the problem is just frustration. When you’re in the middle of the grid, backwards, those first corners are always a melee.
“When you’re in the front of the grid, it’s a very certain way of starting. You start, you attack, or you defend, and it’s cleaning up; there are not enough cars going around. When you go further back, you’re not going two-wide, but five-wide. The guy next to you is just as brave as you, and then you have different cars, and the cars in the back are not as precise.
“So, you end up with cars locking the brakes, cars that didn’t slow down, and somebody’s too optimistic because they want to score points. If you start 15th, and you want to score points, you need to be P10 by Turn 1, so you dive on five cars, and you get it wrong, and you run over everybody.
“But it’s good! It’s the nature of the sport, and I understand Fernando’s frustration, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of the drivers.”
Q: Jeremy Clarkson was in Austin, and he said no one wants to see Kim Kardashian at F1. Sky got upset. Was he right to say things like that?
JPM: “Do you think he cares? No, he doesn’t care, because he also said [Franco] Colapinto deserved a time penalty just for being Argentine.
“The problem is not so much the rivalry. I think the Argentines have been very disrespectful to a lot of people. I think the Argentines have insulted and threatened a lot of drivers, and a lot of people.
“That’s why Franco came out the other day and asked people to be a little more cautious, and a little more respectful; enjoy the sport for sure but be a little more respectful.
“Personally, I couldn’t care less when somebody sends you a message saying you’re a f***ing idiot, but some people take it personally and take it to heart, and that’s the reality of it. So, he’s just sending a jab back.
“It’s really hard, you have got to understand the same way people are passionate about football in England, it’s the same in motorsports. Put it this way, if Franco would have gone out and taken Hamilton out; let’s say Franco was being lapped, and Hamilton was in a run to be world champion, and Franco crashed into him. How many English people wouldn’t send Franco threatening messages? A lot!
“The Argentinians are a little bit more outspoken, and they’ve always been a little more outspoken, and it’s just their way of expressing the passion for the sport. The way the English would do it is a little bit like what Jeremy Clarkson did.”
Q: Through humour?
JPM: “Yeah, it’s just jabbing them in a nice way. It’s hard because they put him in a spot… they go to Jeremy and say, ‘what do you think of Kardashian at the races?’ What are you expecting him to say? It’s like you’re rage-baiting him and using his words against him.
“I bet you money if you went to him and asked him, ‘do you really mind that she comes to the races?’ He would turn around and probably wouldn’t care if she was there. But somebody rage-baited him, got the right answer, and they posted it. This is the hard thing.
Q: What’s the relationship between Argentina and Colombia?
JPM: “It’s not the best. It’s funny because Argentina has always been way superior to us in football, and there was a match some years ago where we won 5-0. Colombians, every time they think about Argentina, it’s that match that they managed to beat Argentina, where there’s been 100 matches, and they have lost 98! They live by those two. It’s just a passion. Latins are very passionate.
“Look at the comment from Fernando about the midfield, it’s exactly the same. But at the same time, look at the comment from Lando [Norris] in Baku about some drivers shouldn’t be on the grid. It’s the same thing. If you’re Argentinian, and you hear that comment from Lando, you’re going to go into Lando’s Instagram and have a go at him.
“In England, you have Lando, you have three, four, five drivers. In Argentina, they have one, and the last one before him was more than 20 years ago. So, for them, he’s the country. He’s carrying the flag. It is the national pride, it’s like Checo [Sergio Perez]. If you insult Checo, you’re insulting Mexico.”
Q: It was an underwhelming weekend for McLaren. Oscar Piastri just seems to be going backwards, even. What’s his problem, and does he need to look to move if he can go anywhere?
JPM: “I think it’s the same issue that George is having. It’s just different cars to drive, and he’s just not comfortable. He’s not happy, he’s not comfortable.
“He’s doing a good job on one lap. He’s stepped up on one lap, but lap after lap after lap, Lando is just comfortable winging it, and it’s working.”
Q: What about the announcement of a race in Rwanda from 2030, the first one in Africa for over 30 years since Kyalami. Is that a welcome move?
“Remember, it’s a World Championship. And the more global you are the better.
“I think it’s great that they’re going to more places outside Europe, making it more relevant around the world. That is good. Europe has amazing tracks, and they have amazing countries, and amazing traditions. But it’s good to change and have variety.”
Q: There’s uncertainty about whether the Abu Dhabi and Qatar races will go ahead. Do you think they will go if Antonelli is already champion?
“If Formula One can go and race, they will go and race. I think if they feel that it’s safe and normal to do it, they will go. I think that’s a big thing.”
“And finally, your prediction for the Mexican GP podium please?
“Mexico could be a track for a Ferrari, too. Ferrari can perform well. I think we’re going to see another Kimi and Max race, and going into a longer run into Turn 1, I think it’d be really cool. So, could be an amazing race.”
Q: So, will Leclerc win or Hamilton?
“I’m going to say Charles, Max, Antonelli.”
