F1 icon Juan Pablo Montoya believes that Mercedes are ‘killing’ Kimi Antonelli after he crashed and ‘drove too slowly’ following his first two FP1 appearances at the Italian Grand Prix and Mexican Grand Prix.

Antonelli replaced George Russell behind the wheel in Monza, taking to the track in front of his home crowd. Later in the weekend, he was announced as Lewis Hamilton’s successor for 2025, but Friday was a nightmare day for the teenager who crashed at the Parabolica on his second flying lap.

Speaking about Antonelli on the W Radio YouTube channel, Montoya said: “Antonelli has the speed to be in Formula One, he has the ability to be in Formula One. The question is if he is well prepared enough.

“What happened in Mexico City for me, and we talked about the other time [in Monza], how slow it was in Mexico, I would say that is serious. In Italy, he came out and tried to beat the lap record on the first lap and broke the car.

“And here he came out not to break the car slowly. So, they kill him for crashing and they kill him by driving slowly and that is the reality of this. You have to learn how far you can push and understand that balance.”