Kimi Antonelli issued warning as Mercedes covers her butt’

Juan Pablo Montoya believes Mercedes is “covering its ass” by signing Valtteri Bottas as reserve driver for the 2025 F1 season.

The Brackley-based team has signed its former racing driver Valtteri Bottas as its reserve driver for this season, with rookie driver Kimi Antonelli making his Formula 1 debut with Mercedes.

Juan Pablo Montoya: Valtteri Bottas a “safety net” for Mercedes

With mercedes Returning to junior star Kimi Antonelli as Lewis Hamilton’s successor as the seven-time F1 world champion, the young Italian rookie faces a big test in his first season in Formula 1.

Not only must he find his feet in Formula 1, but the two-time 2024 Formula 2 race winner must do so under the spotlight of replacing Hamilton in a competitive Mercedes team.

Antonelli will be paired with the known quantity that is George Russell, with the British driver having the advantage in Hamilton in their final season together, Russell providing a very strong benchmark against which Antonelli will measure himself.

Following his final season with Sauber, Mercedes signed the available Valtteri Bottas as the Finn returns to the fold at Brackley. Bottas raced as Hamilton’s teammate at Mercedes between 2017 and ’21, proving an exemplary teammate for Hamilton during his four titles between ’17 and ’20.

Bottas proving he is a driver capable of placing himself so strongly in a support role means he is the perfect driver to keep Antonelli cautious during this season, Juan Pablo Montoya believes, with Bottas a strong safety net for Mercedes if Antonelli cannot get with Formula 1.

“Kimi Antonelli is in the spotlight in one of the best teams with a teammate who is doing a mega job,” said Montoya Casasdepuestas.bet.

“And they sell you as the next Max Verstappen. If you don’t deliver, that’s difficult.

“My reading is that with (Valtteri) Bottas, Mercedes would be covering their ass.

“It’s a safety net to have someone in case it doesn’t work out with Antonelli and he knows it.”

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Montoya’s comments echo the sentiment expressed by former F1 driver turned broadcaster Karun Chandhok.

Rather than Antonelli having no pressure on his shoulders in his rookie year, Chandhok said the immediate success of drivers such as Hamilton, Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and George Russell has ended a period of learning.

“I think if you are driving for the team that has finished 10th in the championship or the team at the front of the net, as a rookie in F1, there is nowhere to hide,” Chandhok told the Sky F1 podcast.

“You have people like us analyzing every sector of every lap they make.

“And for Kimi Antonelli, the fact that he comes as a rookie, but with a superior team, means that he is expected to deliver, as Lewis was when he arrived at McLaren and took nine podiums straight from the bat, as Oscar Piasstri has shown in the last two years.

“You know, expectations on rookies are high. You can’t be there saying, ‘Oh, I’m here to learn,’ anymore. That excuse has gone with people like Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Lewis before that – these rookies have just raised the bar of expectations.”

Speaking at the Italian Grand Prix, the weekend Mercedes announced the signing of Antonelli 48 hours after the Italian crashed shortly after the start of his first appearance at the F1 weekend driving the car. Russell in FP1, team boss Toto Wolff admitted that signing Antonelli is a risk that it is a risk that it is a risk that it is a risk. , but it’s a risk worth taking.

“There are some good signs that he has a lot of talent and a lot of potential, and now he needs to be conditioned. When you invest in young drivers, these things (crashes) happen,” he said.

“You have to be prepared to take that risk. I think we don’t want to stop a driver. We’re happy to work with someone who has so much speed, who has confidence.”