Juan-Pablo Montoya: What he thinks Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari are capable of in Mexico

Juan-Pablo Montoya is also keen to see how the Mexican Grand Prix weekend will unfold. The star of the show at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez has already been decided: soon-to-be world champion Kimi Antonelli.

As a reminder: regardless of how his 21 rivals perform, the 20-year-old Italian need only finish ninth in Mexico – that is, score two points – to secure the world championship title.

The consensus in the paddock is that a great deal would have to go wrong in Mexico for that not to happen.

Juan-Pablo Montoya (Colombia/USA), who holds dual citizenship, on the current situation: “Mexico is tricky, not just because of the altitude. You’ve got some very hard braking manoeuvres and quite technical corners; the Autódromo is more difficult than it appears at first glance.”

“As a driver, you need a great deal of confidence in the car here. Because of the thin air, you have so little downforce that the car is constantly sliding. I can well imagine that we’ll see the odd driving error – and then, as a rule, there’s a crash.”

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Soon-to-be world champion Kimi Antonelli: The inevitable will then follow in Mexico

The 20-year-old Italian Kimi Antonelli had the chance to secure the 2026 World Championship title at the US Grand Prix. He did everything right: victory in Texas. The title celebrations have nevertheless been postponed. Until Mexico.

Mathias Brunner

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“Years ago, someone came up with a clever analogy, and it still holds true: you’re driving here with the wings set as steeply as in Monaco, but the car feels as light as if you were driving at Monza. With the 2026 cars, this will be even more extreme, because they’ll generate a good 20 per cent less downforce than the 2025 race cars.”

The 2002 and 2003 World Championship bronze medallist adds, referring to Kimi Antonelli: “In Texas, Kimi simply got everything right, starting with the start on medium tyres – and that against the Red Bull Racing and Ferrari drivers, who all started the race on soft Pirellis.”

“What I liked about Austin was that Mercedes didn’t let themselves be rattled and stuck to the one-stop strategy. Red Bull Racing is usually exemplary when it comes to race strategy and manages – often with a bold approach – to put its rivals under pressure. But Mercedes didn’t react at all to RBR’s two-stop strategy, and Antonelli turned that into a victory.”

The two-time Indy 500 winner and IndyCar champion also knows: “Kimi had that fantastic winning streak in the spring, with five consecutive victories, but then came six Grands Prix in which the Italian could only win once. It wasn’t until Monza, and then Madrid, that he triumphed again. By then he’d racked up so many points – and you could feel that in Texas – that he can say to himself: ‘I’m not playing tactical games, I just want to win and show why I’m the right champion for 2026.’

“For this weekend here, I believe Ferrari can be strong. You need a car that reacts instantly to changes in direction and is stable – both of which apply to the Ferrari – and the small turbocharger that Ferrari uses will also help. The only question is: will Ferrari manage to pull it off perfectly for a whole weekend?”