Kimi Antonelli Slapped With Penalty For British GP After Max Verstappen Crash

Newsweek

9 hours ago

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In the aftermath of the Austrian Grand Prix, the FIA handed Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli a three-place grid penalty for his collision with Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
During the race, Antonelli locked up his brakes into Turn 3, hitting the Red Bull and taking both cars out of the race.
Antonelli got off to a poor start and lost a place when the lights went out, which could have played a role in his late, hard braking into the corner.
After the collision, the Italian took responsibility for the incident and said that he had apologized to Verstappen for ruining his race.
ed Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen (L) and Mercedes' Italian driver Kimi Antonelli speak after their cars crashed during the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria,...
ed Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen (L) and Mercedes' Italian driver Kimi Antonelli speak after their cars crashed during the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg, Austria, on June 29, 2025. More
Photo byThe FIA stewards investigated the collision after the race and found Antonelli at fault, according to a document released by the regulating body.
"In the hearing the driver admitted that he made a mistake as he locked up the rear wheels while using his regular braking point, but also pointed out that he needed to avoid a collision with Car 30 [Liam Lawson] in front of him and released the brakes for a short period of time to do so," the FIA decision document read.
"Taking evasive action led to the car having less grip on the dirty inside line and therefore he was not able to decelerate the car in a way to avoid the collision with Car 1.
"The stewards determine that, although the incident happened in Lap 1, no other cars influenced the incident, and the driver of Car 12 is fully at fault. Therefore, the more lenient approach to judging Lap 1 incidents has not been applied in this case.
"However, they also acknowledge that the incident was not a blatant attempt to dive into the corner but rather a result of the evasive action after locking up."
Antonelli's penalty will be enforced at the upcoming race in the double-header at Silverstone - one of the biggest races on the calendar.
Verstappen started the Austrian race in P7. He struggled during qualifying with the car and ended up finishing lower than he usually does.
After getting taken out of the race, Verstappen noted that Red Bull still has work on its hands to figure out how to get more performance.
"Yeah, I guess unlucky a little bit yesterday, you know, qualifying and unlucky today in the race," Verstappen said after the collision.
"But, of course, if you look at the weekend, we were not where we wanted to be, I guess, in terms of pace, and we have to try and analyze that and hopefully have a little bit of a more positive weekend next week."
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