Montoya: “Antonelli has a champion’s luck, in Canada he never paid dearly for his mistakes”
George Russell’s technical retirement during the Canadian Grand Prix allowed Andrea Kimi Antonelli to claim his fourth consecutive Formula 1 victory and extend his advantage in the Drivers’ Championship to 43 points.
Even without the issue suffered by his Mercedes teammate, however, the young Italian appeared to have a genuine opportunity to win the race. Throughout the weekend in Montreal, Antonelli often looked slightly quicker than Russell, both in raw pace and overall race rhythm.
Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya shares that opinion, although he also pointed to another important aspect of Antonelli’s current momentum: what he described as “the luck of a champion.”
Juan Pablo Montoya agrees with Jacques Villeneuve
“I agree with Villeneuve, Antonelli has the luck of a champion right now,” Montoya explained while speaking to Sports Betting. “He makes mistakes, but he never really pays the price for them.”
The Colombian highlighted several moments across both the Sprint and the Grand Prix where Antonelli risked serious consequences after going off track, yet always managed to avoid major damage to his Mercedes.
“In at least three situations in Canada, between the Sprint and the race itself, he risked serious damage to the car after going off track, but nothing happened,” Montoya added. “He needs to be careful because sooner or later that luck will end, and this tendency to make mistakes could come back to hurt him.”
Montoya then used Monaco as an example of how brutally Formula 1 can punish even small errors on tighter street circuits: “At Monaco, for example, if you make a mistake, you hit the wall and you risk a 25-0 result,” he warned.
Despite Antonelli’s incredible form and growing championship lead, Montoya also made it clear that he does not believe the title fight is already over. According to the former Williams and McLaren driver, Formula 1 history has already shown how quickly situations can change during a long season: “The championship obviously isn’t finished,” Montoya said. “We’ve seen in previous years how Lando Norris and Max Verstappen managed to recover large gaps.”
At the same time, the Colombian admitted that the pressure within Mercedes now appears to be shifting heavily toward George Russell, especially after what happened in Montreal.
“It’s clear that the pressure is now entirely on George Russell, also because I think Antonelli was slightly faster than him in Canada.”
The comments add another fascinating layer to what is quickly becoming one of the most compelling intra-team battles in Formula 1, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli continuing to strengthen his reputation as a genuine championship contender in the 2026 season.
Leave a Reply