Juan Pablo Montoya believes that too much is being said about Kimi Antonelli and that much more should be said about Isack Hadjar. The latter's performance clearly represents the Mercedes junior team.
Many already consider Antonelli a record holder, which is true in many ways, but he owes this more to his youth and Mercedes' competitiveness than to his undeniable talent. Montoya also recognizes the latter, but he believes there is a brighter star among F1's rookies:
"I think that among the young drivers, Hadjar is still the best. Gabriel Bortoleto is also a talented driver who delivered very strong qualifying performances, but he hasn't shown anything exceptional in the races, although he still outperforms Nico Hülkenberg.
"I think something's missing from Kimi Antonelli. He wasn't bad, but I thought he'd beat George Russell in Bahrain, but that didn't happen. He couldn't even come close; he didn't do a good enough job. What he does is very erratic; he breaks the floor, makes a lot of mistakes, but controls the situations he messes up very well. We've only seen Isack Hadjar make one mistake, on the opening lap of the first race of the season, and since then he's been performing absolutely solidly. And I think that sooner or later, this will also attract the attention of Red Bull Racing," mused the seven-time Formula 1 race winner.
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