Montoya teases Verstappen’s reaction to Antonelli crash: “Are they already Mercedes teammates?”. Juan Pablo Montoya jokes about Max Verstappen’s calm reaction after being taken out by Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Austria.

A major mistake by the young Italian driver sparked controversy at the start of the Austrian Grand Prix. Over the team radio, several drivers reacted furiously as Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli flew like a missile into Turn 3 on the opening lap. Max Verstappen immediately lashed out, calling whoever hit him an “idiot” after being taken out with a violent impact. Both Liam Lawson and Gabriel Bortoleto, who had to take to the escape road to avoid the collision, also expressed their shock, questioning, “What was Antonelli thinking?”

The Mercedes driver, fresh off a podium finish in Canada, misjudged his braking point, locked the rear wheels, and attempted to dodge cars approaching at high speed. In doing so, he ultimately crashed into the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who had been trying to avoid trouble by going wide on the outside of Turn 3.

Colombian former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, speaking to BettingLounge.co.uk, offered his take on the incident, adding a touch of humor over the surprisingly calm reaction from Verstappen, who had just become the victim of what looked like a bowling strike:

“Reading between the lines, why was Max Verstappen so gentle with Kimi Antonelli after the crash? Are they already teammates? Looking at the incident, I think Antonelli simply braked too late and was caught off guard by how early the others slowed down. He hit the brake pedal impulsively, locked up, and then tried to minimize the damage—unfortunately ending up crashing into Max. But it could have been a lot worse.

If something like this had decided the championship, Verstappen would’ve exploded. But I think he put himself in Antonelli’s shoes and realized he would’ve done the same thing in that situation. I believe Max was going through such a bad weekend that he was almost glad it was over.”