Montoya sees a ‘warning’ sign if Mercedes bring Valtteri Bottas back
Could Valtteri Bottas be set to return to Mercedes as reserve driver?
Kimi Antonelli should take Valtteri Bottas’ expected return to Mercedes as a warning, Juan Pablo Montoya saying the team will have a “safe reserve” should the Italian implode.
Antonelli will join the Formula 1 grid next season, the Mercedes junior promoted to a race seat alongside George Russell. There is, however, one piece of the Mercedes driver puzzle yet to be completed: the reserve driver.
Valtteri Bottas’ return is an ‘interesting’ move from Mercedes
Additional reporting by Pablo Hidalgo
That is expected to be Mercedes’ former driver and 10-time Grand Prix winner Bottas.
The Finn won’t continue with Sauber next season having failed to reach mutual terms, nor is there another realistic seat available as only Red Bull have open spaces.
He admitted before the Sauber announcement that he would be open to returning to Mercedes while the Brackley squad poured fuel on that fire when they responded to a ‘I miss him and it’s just a sports player’ thread with a photograph of Bottas.
Montoya believes bringing Bottas back into the fold is a wise decision for Mercedes, but that it should be a worry for Antonelli.
“The move by Mercedes is interesting,” the Colombian told W Radio Colombia. “For me it’s a warning (if) they sign Bottas. Firstly, because they are signing him as a reserve driver.
“I think (it would say) they are not very confident about Antonelli and obviously they are not going to say that publicly. They are totally convinced (they say). Toto has said that Lewis has lost his edge and that’s why he is (now) with young people.
“But I think the smart move was to sign Bottas and have him as a reserve driver and then if something happens with Antonelli where there are a lot of accidents, a lot of mistakes… for the sponsors, for Mercedes and for everybody else they have a safe reserve.
“If I were Antonelli, with this decision by Mercedes I would think: ‘I need to get my act together’.”
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Mercedes though, also carry some of the responsibility for ensuring Antonelli can stamp his authority on that seat, and Montoya doesn’t believe they did that in Mexico.
In sharp contrast to the 18-year-old’s FP1 run in Monza where he went purple and then crashed on his next flying lap, in Mexico he was more cautious and finished down in 12th place, over a second behind the second Mercedes of George Russell.
Montoya says Mercedes need to find a balance.
“The question is whether Antonelli is well prepared enough,” said the seven-time Grand Prix winner.
“He’s done millions and millions of laps compared to all the people he has raced against, except in Formula 1. He’s had a lot of preparation in F2, with old Mercedes cars. On that basis, I would think he’s super-prepared.
“But what happened in Mexico… he was very slow and that’s serious. In Italy, he went out to beat the world record on the first lap and broke the car and in Mexico he went out not to break it and was slow.
“They kill him for crashing and they kill him for being slow. You have to know how to find that balance.”
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