As Max Verstappen to Mercedes talk rumbles on, Juan Pablo Montoya highlighted a potential clue within Verstappen’s reaction to being punted out of the Austrian GP by Kimi Antonelli.
Verstappen would have been well within his rights to be upset, Antonelli’s error at Turn 3 having eliminated them both from the race. Yet, Verstappen was very forgiving, Montoya teasing that could be because Verstappen and Antonelli are team-mates to be.
Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli: The future of Mercedes?
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
Verstappen spent much of the Austrian Grand Prix trying to bat away renewed talk over a move to Mercedes, rumours re-started by Russell telling Sky F1 that talks between Verstappen and Mercedes are “ongoing”, while his wait for a new contract goes on.
Events on the track were similarly frustrating, Verstappen putting his Red Bull RB21 P7 only on the grid, having been caught up in yellow flags triggered by Pierre Gasly’s spin, while Verstappen’s race was over almost as soon as it started, Antonelli locking-up at Turn 3 and ploughing into the Red Bull.
As McLaren went on to claim a one-two – Lando Norris winning ahead of Oscar Piastri – that Antonelli incident has potentially ended Verstappen’s hopes of a fifth straight World Championship, yet he did not criticise the teenage rookie.
That left Montoya – seven times a grand prix winner – pondering whether Verstappen’s mercy was a clue on the F1 2026 driver decisions Mercedes will make.
“If you wanted to read into things, why was Max so nice to Kimi after their collision?” Montoya told a gambling platform. “Are they already team-mates?
“I think he braked too late. I think he was surprised how early everybody braked. He stood on the brakes, locked the rears, tried to avoid a big shunt and then he collided with Max but it could have been a lot worse.
“If this decided the championship, Max would have blown up. But I think when that happened, in the way it did, he goes, ‘I would have done the same thing, I probably would have done the same thing.’ I mean inside he would be laughing about it.
“I think Max was having such an awful weekend that he was kind of probably glad that it happened.”
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Russell has demonstrated his capabilities as a four-time grand prix winner – his most recent triumph coming in Canada, the round prior to Austria – yet Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has not pulled the trigger on a new deal for Russell, a graduate of their junior team.
Montoya was asked whether he felt Russell deserved more respect than to have this speculation swirling around over his Mercedes future.
“I think he’s done a good enough job that he should have more stability than what he has right now,” Montoya responded. “But it’s the luck of the draw with how things pan out.
“It sucks sometimes, timing is so important that if you’re on the wrong side of the timing, it’s hard.
“Personally, I don’t know if George has spoken to more people but I think if Toto would see that George started to look at options, I think they would look at George differently. I think George to a fault is maybe too loyal.
“That is really good. That is what you would expect from somebody like him but he’s not getting the same treatment. But hey, it’s just speculations at the end of the day.”
Montoya knows which Mercedes driver he would be keeping if the other is to make way for Verstappen.
“If I was Toto, I would actually commit to George long-term and keep Kimi in the balance as a yeah maybe,” said Montoya. “They invested a lot in George as well and George is further along.
“With George they did the right thing when they brought him from Williams. He developed in Williams and then when he was ready he was brought in and when he was ready and he was better than Lewis.”
The speculation should soon make way for confirmation, as Wolff has suggested he will not let Mercedes’ F1 2026 driver plans go unconfirmed beyond the summer break.
Three rounds remain until that stage – the British, Belgian and Hungarian GPs.
“You need to be respectable towards the stakeholders in all of that process,” Wolff told the media, including PlanetF1.com, in Austria.
“The organisation, the drivers, everybody, you need to understand the way forward.
“And I don’t want to be sadistic in letting a driver wait, not taking any decisions when it should be taken.
“So I feel we’re in a good space in June. Obviously, there’s lots of discussions around, and I’ve been open with it and transparent and at a certain stage, in the next couple of months – until the summer break, we need to know. Until the summer break, everything is going to be done.”
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