Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya has defended Kimi Antonelli’s radio outburst during Saturday’s sprint race in Canada.
The Italian vented his frustration over team radio after being forced wide by team-mate George Russell while the pair were battling for position.
Antonelli called for Russell to receive a time penalty before Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff intervened, insisting the matter would be discussed internally after the race.
The incident marked the first notable flashpoint of the season between the Mercedes team-mates, who have emerged as the leading contenders in the championship battle.
Montoya admitted he enjoyed seeing Antonelli’s combative approach and praised the aggressive mindset the young driver has displayed in only his second F1 season.
“They have the best car and he has a good margin at the moment. It might go away, it might get really close,” Montoya told F1.
“He’s trying, he’s young, he’s experimenting. He’s not afraid of making moves and I think that’s really cool.
“He was angry and wanted to get to George. He could see when he tried to pass Lando, it was the last lap and he went really deep.
“I thought it was cool, I don’t mind that. In a way, we all want to see this. We don’t want to see the guys ‘oh please don’t race, please don’t have an opinion’.”
While Montoya admitted Antonelli’s emotions got the better of him, he asserted that passion is an important trait for any F1 driver to have.
“Did he lose his head? A little. If you didn’t lose your head at that, you wouldn’t be driving the car and you wouldn’t be good at this.
“There is a lot of passion involved. Kimi has a lot of respect for Toto, so he has a lot of control over Kimi that is quite powerful and important in situations like this.”
