'Why was Verstappen so kind to Antonelli after the crash? Are they already teammates?'
14:36, 01 Jul
Updated: 15:04, 01 Jul
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Juan Pablo Montoya analysed the incident between Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen at the Austrian GP and the Dutchman’s surprisingly composed reaction afterward.
It certainly wasn’t an easy weekend for Max Verstappen at the Red Bull Ring, with a seventh-place qualifying time and a retirement right away due to a crude mistake by Kimi Antonelli that ended both their races on the first lap.
What surprised fans and insiders the most, however, was the calm reaction of the four-time world champion once he got out of the car and during the interviews.
The Dutchman showed no resentment toward the young Italian driver, describing the incident as something that can happen and a mistake that every driver has made at least once in their career.
Verstappen’s reaction, however, left Juan Pablo Montoya somewhat puzzled, as he did not expect such a gracious behavior from the reigning world champion given how much the DNF impacted his championship standings.
Montoya surprised by Verstappen's reaction
Juan Pablo Montoya
“If you want to read between the lines, why was Verstappen so kind to Antonelli after the crash? Are they already teammates?'' the former F1 driver told a betting website, reflecting the rumours.
''Analysing the incident, I think Antonelli braked too late, surprised by the fact that the others braked too early. He slammed on the brake pedal impulsively, locking up, then tried to minimize the damage and ended up hitting Max, but it could have been much worse''.
''If a similar incident had decided the championship, Verstappen would have exploded, but I think he put himself in Antonelli’s shoes, concluding that he would have acted exactly the same in a similar situation. I believe he was having such a terrible weekend that he was almost relieved it was over.”
With zero points scored in Austria, Verstappen now finds himself a 61 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri in the standings.
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