Max Verstappen gives his verdict on contact with Kimi Antonelli at the Austrian Grand Prix
Max Verstappen showed understanding for Kimi Antonelli after the Mercedes rookie eliminated him from the Austrian Grand Prix in a first-lap collision.
Kimi Antonelli misjudged his braking at the uphill turn 3 at the start of the race and, in trying to avoid Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber by moving to the right, he collided with the back of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.
A costly collision
The two cars were forced to immediate retirement due to damage, and the safety car had to intervene to remove them from the track.
This race’s end was particularly disappointing for Max Verstappen, four-time Formula 1 world champion, who was Red Bull’s main hope on its home circuit in Spielberg.
This withdrawal also ended a streak of 31 consecutive races with points scored for the Dutchman.
Max Verstappen gives his feelings
After the race, Max Verstappen explained that he found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, having started from seventh position after a difficult qualifying session on Friday.
« We had a good start, it was a real improvement, » he said in the media zone. « The last two days, I wasn’t really satisfied with my starts. »
« Then at turn 3, the race was over. Of course, at that moment, I didn’t know what had happened, but we had quite a bit of damage, and the car really stopped », he explains.
« I guess I had a bit of bad luck yesterday in qualifying and today in the race, but looking at the weekend as a whole, we weren’t where we wanted to be in terms of pace, we need to analyze that. I hope to have a slightly more positive weekend next week. »
No hard feelings towards Antonelli
However, Max Verstappen does not blame Kimi Antonelli, explaining that this kind of mistake sometimes happens in F1.
« I just asked what happened because he was the only driver there with his wheel dangling. I was almost sure he had hit me. Then, of course, I saw the footage when returning to the garage. It happens, all drivers have made a mistake like that before. Nobody does it on purpose. It can happen. »
Max Verstappen has an impressive record at the Red Bull Ring, with five victories on this circuit since his return to F1 in 2014 — including during the second race in 2021 under the name Styrian Grand Prix.
Asked about the frustration of pulling out in front of the many fans who came specifically to see him race, he replied: « This is not what we want. In the end, that’s what disappoints me the most. But that’s also racing. We’ve experienced many great moments here, so we’ve been a bit spoiled too. »
