Juan Pablo Montoya warns of team-mate clashes at F1 Austrian GP

Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya believes the unique, unforgiving nature of the Red Bull Ring will inevitably trigger on-track battles between team-mates at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Speaking on F1 TV’s Weekend Warm-up programme, the Colombian explained that the short, sharp layout of the Spielberg circuit leaves drivers with nowhere to hide.

When quizzed about the likelihood of on-track contact in the heavy braking zones, Montoya warned that intra-team friction is almost a certainty.

“We’re going to see team-mate clashes,” he said. “This is a place that the team-mates always run together, and it’s a place where somebody’s happy and somebody’s miserable, and you’re going to see team owners get really excited.”

Montoya also noted that a lack of corners means margins are incredibly small.

“Three tenths here is like six tenths somewhere else. So, closing the gap here is really, really difficult,” he added. “There aren’t enough corners to make a difference.”

The threat of intra-team clashes arrives as Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton is building momentum in the drivers’ championship and is putting pressure on Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

The seven-time champion’s win at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, his first with the Maranello outfit and the first non-Mercedes grand prix victory of the season, has left him 41 points behind championship leader Antonelli and nine points ahead of Russell. 

Russell was asked during the drivers’ press conference in Austria if he was more nervous about his intra-team battle with Antonelli or about dealing with pressure from other teams. “Neither makes me nervous,” the Briton explained.

“It makes me excited, to be honest, because the more people you’re going head-to-head with, that’s competition. And that is how it was for all of us when we were go-karting. You would never race against one competitor. There were three, four or five drivers who were all competing for wins.

“That’s how Formula 1 should be. And that’s what excites us. So, I’m looking forward to it.”

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