Verstappen on Antonelli incident: 'Every driver has made a mistake like that'

Max Verstappen suffered a race-ending blow from Kimi Antonelli during the first lap of the Austrian Grand Prix. 

Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix | Photo credits: Red Bull Content Pool

Austria has been a weekend to forget for the four-time world champion. The weekend woes for Verstappen began on Saturday when Qualifying took place around the Red Bull Ring. Looking to add to his record for most pole positions at the circuit, Verstappen entered qualifying with optimism as one of the top three drivers from practice.

But as the qualifying began, both Red Bull drivers struggled. Yuki Tsunoda was knocked out in Q1, despite being two-tenths faster than Verstappen, balance issues hindered the Japanese driver, meaning he finished the session in a lacklustre 18th position. Eyes were on Verstappen to grab a high starting position. 

As the Dutchman prepared for his final flying lap, the yellow flag was brought out after Pierre Gasly spun. Subsequently, Verstappen had to abort his lap, which meant he only mustered up at seventh place starting position. 

After an aborted start due to Carlos Sainz’s Williams suffering from engine issues, Verstappen lined up to take the green flag. As the drivers headed into the third corner, Mercedes’ Antonelli missed his braking point, in an attempt to dodge upcoming drivers, he locked his tyres, hitting the back of Verstappen. 

The incident left both drivers with irreparable damage, causing Verstappen’s first DNF of the season and rounding out a weekend in Austria to forget.

Antonelli speaks out:

Explaining his side of events, Antonelli said: “ I didn’t necessarily brake too late, it’s just that when I braked, I braked hard because I was behind other cars, and in that moment I locked the rears," Antonelli said to Sky Sports.

“Then I just couldn’t stop the car.  locked the rear and then lost the car, and then had to avoid Lawson. Then it was too late because I was arriving just too quick. I started to lock the front and instead of decelerating, I was accelerating. The car was just taking speed and the crash was inevitable."

"Just feel super sorry to the team, and to Max of course, because obviously he was just a passenger," Antonelli expressed.

"Of course, it’s a big mistake. Now we need to move forward and focus on Silverstone. We’ll see if we get a penalty or not, but it’s going to be important to get back and start doing like I did in Canada." The driver concluded.

Verstappen gives his two cents on the incident

As celebrations for McLaren roared with the team taking another 1-2 victory, disappointment echoed in the Red Bull garage as the incident dropped Verstappen 61 points behind Championship leader Oscar Piastri. 

Following the incident, Verstappen gave his thoughts to the media:

“Unlucky, I guess. It is what it is. I spoke quickly to Kimi, he came with me to the hospitality.

“I think every driver has made a mistake like that. No one does that on purpose as well so for me, that’s not a big deal." He added.

“It was not the weekend that I guess we hoped for pace wise. Then of course we were a little bit unlucky in Qualifying with that yellow flag, otherwise you start a bit further ahead.

"Then the race was unlucky again. Sometimes you have those weekends.”

The 12th round of the 2025 season takes place on the weekend of the 6th, with the Formula One world heading to the historical grounds of Silverstone.