Juan Pablo Montoya doesn’t trust Kimi Antonelli

Andrea Kimi Antonelli dominated the first half of the Formula 1 World Championship, finishing with a 50-point lead over second-place Lewis Hamilton, and convinced everyone in the sport of his strength—or almost everyone. Among former drivers, there are those who still have reservations about the Bologna-born driver’s inexperience, and Juan Pablo Montoya is one of them.

According to the Colombian, Kimi could fall victim to his own fiery temperament on the track in this second half of the season, when Grand Prix points will carry ever greater weight and the tension will inevitably rise. “Kimi has been a surprise, unlike Mercedes,” he told Betpack. “Will he become world champion? They need to stop him from acting like a young, aggressive driver and getting carried away by the heat of the race.”

Montoya explains that if he were the Mercedes team principal, he would do everything in his power to reduce Kimi’s wheel-to-wheel battles: “If his rivals challenge him and he has the chance to pass them, he might end up crashing and doing things just to prove to everyone that he’s number one. If he can control himself when battling his rivals, I think he’ll become world champion.”

He isn’t the only authoritative voice warning the young driver from Bologna. Gerhard Berger, in an interview with the official F1 website, also issued a warning to Antonelli, drawing a parallel with what happened last season: “Antonelli is young and takes risks; the other driver is more experienced, and now all the pressure is on the Italian’s shoulders. Last year, at the start, it looked like Oscar Piastri was about to beat Lando Norris, but Norris turned the tables and won the championship. In Formula 1, anything is possible. And it will be until the very end.”

Two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who has known Antonelli since their karting days and has a close relationship with his family, echoes this sentiment: “Kimi is only 19 years old and can win the championship. He’s putting enormous pressure on George Russell, though I don’t think it’s over yet. If George can handle the pressure positively—as he’s proven time and again that he can—I think it’ll be very exciting for the fans. It’ll be a real battle for the rest of the season.”