Jacques Villeneuve doubles down on Kimi Antonelli ‘Formula 4’ comments after watching Monza incident

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Kimi Antonelli came home to score points at Monza, but not before being hit with another time penalty.

The Mercedes driver was in desperate need of a result at the Italian Grand Prix amid a torrid run of form. Antonelli had scored points in two of the last nine races, which included his maiden podium in Canada.

Mechanical failures and rookie mistakes have hampered the 19-year-old’s season, with the Dutch GP being particularly damaging as he was hit with a 15-second time penalty. Antonelli collided with Charles Leclerc before speeding in the pit lane during the safety car period.

Timo Glock feels Antonelli needs to learn ‘everything’ about being an F1 driver to improve, after he found the gravel trap during practice at Monza. He put that behind him to reach Q3 and qualify seventh, before scoring points in the race with P9.

However, his Grand Prix was not without its controversy as he forced Alex Albon onto the grass as they fought for position. The Mercedes driver was hit with a five-second penalty, demoting him a position after crossing the line in eighth.

Jacques Villeneuve says Kimi Antonelli’s incident with Alex Albon at Monza is something not even Formula 4 drivers do

Antonelli has been overtaken by Albon in the standings as the Williams driver came home P7 at Monza. The teenager has faced huge criticism in the last few races due to his dramatic drop in performance.

Jacques Villeneuve referred to Antonelli as a Formula 4 driver for his antics at Zandvoort. He doubled down on those comments at the Italian GP after seeing his incident with Albon.

“I don’t know, you look at Bortoleto, rookie, in a Sauber, good results, get points, yeah, solid,” he said via F1 TV’s Post-Race Show.

“You’re in a Mercedes, you’ve got millions of tests during winter, you’re prepared. You don’t get here as a young rookie, you get here well prepared.

“Your teammate is racing at the front, he’s got more than double your points. You can’t be satisfied with P9 and that kind of move in turn, if it’s a corner I don’t know, where he pushes another car off in the grass there.

“Yeah, Albon. You don’t do that in Formula 1, you do that in Formula 4 and even then, you don’t do that. He’s lucky he got only five seconds.”

READ MORE: Know all about 2025 Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli including stats

Jacques Villeneuve thinks Kimi Antonelli is ‘paying the price’ for the way Mercedes brought him to F1

Nico Rosberg has advised Antonelli to be more positive after comparing him to Lando Norris with his media debriefs. He appeared to focus on his mistake in practice, rather than his solid qualifying performance.

The pressure on the Italian has been immense in 2025 as Toto Wolff brought him up to replace Lewis Hamilton after one season in F2. Ralf Schumacher says Mercedes overhyped Antonelli, and Villeneuve thinks the Silver Arrows are now ‘paying the price’.

The 1997 F1 champion added: “He’s paying the price for the way he was brought into Formula 1. He’s brought in with a big hoopla; he’s the next Max Verstappen, he’s the next Lewis Hamilton, he’s actually replacing Lewis Hamilton.

“So when you come in with that kind of image, you need to be on it the same way Max was when he came in, the same Lewis was when he came in.

“And that’s what’s not been happening and he hasn’t been making progress. That’s the biggest issue.”