The stewards in Brazil deemed the McLaren driver responsible for the incident, handing him a 10-second penalty, even though Leclerc himself stated after retiring that Antonelli had taken the corner as if there was no one else on track.

The former Colombian driver, appearing on the MontoyAS podcast, believes that locking up the tires worked against the Australian in the stewards’ eyes.

“It’s really complicated, but Oscar was under the stewards’ eyes. He locked up the wheels and didn’t even go wide or anything. That’s exactly how he stopped the car.”

“When the car is locked, the wheels are locked and there’s smoke and everything, it means you’re not fully in control of the car. So when contact happens, most of the blame falls on Oscar, because he wasn’t where he should have been.”

Nonetheless, Montoya believes the incident should have been classified as a simple racing accident, and that Antonelli could have avoided the pile-up by giving a little more space.

The former Haas team principal said he felt that McLaren should have made at least some attempt in appealing the stewards' decision, particularly given that Charles Leclerc himself partially blamed Kimi Antonelli for the incident.

The Australian’s race appeared heavily affected by the penalty he later had to serve during the pit stop, dropping him from second to fifth and costing him valuable points in the title fight against his teammate.

With just three races remaining, Norris currently leads the standings by a solid 24 points over Piastri—almost the equivalent of an entire race advantage to manage.