Max Verstappen reveals verdict on Kimi Antonelli F1 Austrian GP clash

Max Verstappen showed understanding towards Kimi Antonelli after the Mercedes rookie took him out of the Austrian Grand Prix in a first-lap collision.

Antonelli misjudged his braking for the uphill Turn 3 at the start of the race and after ducking to the right to avoid the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto, he rammed into the back of Verstappen’s Red Bull.

Both cars were forced immediately out of the race due to damage, with the safety car being called in to retrieve them from the track.

It was a particularly disappointing ending for four-time Formula 1 champion Verstappen, who was the leading hope for Red Bull on its home track in Spielberg.

The retirement also marked the end of the Dutchman’s 31-race points-scoring streak in F1.

Max Verstappen explains Kimi Antonelli crash

Speaking afterwards, Verstappen said he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, having lined up seventh on the grid after a tough qualifying session on Friday.

“We had a good start, so that was really a nice improvement,” he explained in the media pen. “In the last two days, I was not particularly happy with the start.

“Then in Turn 3, the race was over. Of course, at that point, I didn't know what happened, but we had quite a bit of damage and the car really turned off.

“I guess I was unlucky a little bit yesterday in qualifying and unlucky in the race, but if you look at the weekend, we were not where we wanted to be in terms of pace and we have to try and analyse that. Hopefully, I will have a little bit of a more positive weekend next week.”

However, Verstappen did not apportion the blame on Antonelli, saying drivers occasionally tend to make such mistakes in F1.

“I just asked what happened because he was the only guy that was there with me with his wheel hanging off.

“I was pretty sure that he hit me. Then of course I saw the footage once I came back [to the garage]. It happens, every driver has made a mistake like that.

He added: “No one does these things on purpose. It can happen.”

Verstappen has a strong track record at the Red Bull Ring, having won five races at the venue since its return to F1 in 2014 - including the second event in 2021 that ran under the Sytrian GP banner.

Asked if the retirement was particularly frustrating given the number of fans who showed up just to see him race, he said: “It's not what you want. At the end of the day,  I'm most disappointed about that.

“But that's racing as well. We had a lot of great moments here, so we got a little bit spoiled as well.”