Jacques Villeneuve doubles down on Kimi Antonelli criticism: “A very amateur move”

1997 F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve hasn’t backed down on his criticism towards Kimi Antonelli following the Dutch Grand Prix.

Antonelli had a mixed race at Zandvoort on Sunday.

The Italian initially recovered from a disappointing qualifying performance, failing to make it into Q3, to run inside the top six ahead of teammate George Russell.

A second pit stop onto the softs triggered Ferrari to respond with Charles Leclerc.

With Leclerc on cold tyres, Antonelli saw an opportunity to overtake, but misjudged it, taking the Ferrari driver out of the race.

Antonelli was handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident, and later received a five-second penalty for speeding, dropping him out of the top 10.

After the race, Villeneuve, who was on duty as a pundit for Sky Sports, hit out at Antonelli.

Villeneuve slammed Antonelli for his move, questioning whether being in F1 was “too much for him”.

In a separate interview with Comeon, Villeneuve stood by his initial comments.

“Do I stand by what I said about Antonelli? Totally. On what planet did he think he was going to make the corner and not run into Leclerc? It’s reminiscent of Austria,” Villeneuve said.

“It seems that there is no concept or calculation of what’s happening ahead from him. It’s really, really odd.I mean there's moves like Leclerc against Russell. It was aggressive but it could have worked. There was the potential there.

“For Antonelli, even from entering the corner, the corner before that it was obvious that it wasn’t going to work, and when I saw him dive to the inside, I was thinking, where does he think he will end up?

“Even in his own comments, he said he was surprised that Leclerc turned in front of him. Well, no. He was on the line. That’s where he was. What did he think he was doing?

“That’s why I said that’s not a Formula One move. That’s not a racing driver move. That’s a very amateur move, basically, and you’re in Formula One.”

Antonelli 'can’t be judged differently'

Villeneuve reiterated his view that Kimi Antonelli’s age cannot be a factor.

Villeneuve cited Ollie Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto's progress at their respective teams.

Although, on balance, the pressure of racing for a midfield team, against a teammate who’s not at Russell’s level, is entirely different.

“Maybe if this was the first race of the season you’d think okay, whatever, but hot halfway through the season,” Villeneuve added.

“It’s like this in every sport. He’s done a lot of races now. He’s done mile and miles in whatever they’re allowed to use in an older, two-year-old car, so he was prepped for this, and since the start of the season he hasn’t progressed in the job.

“Look at Bortoleto. He’s making steps forward. Bearman, he’s always been there. There is no excuse for Antonelli. He’sin the Mercedes. There’s a big team around it. A big cocoon.

“Verstappen arrived in F1 at the same age. Lewis was not much older was he? And he fought Alonso. That’s what you have to take as a comparison. This is Formula One and if you’re too young for it then don’t be in F1. It’s that simple.

“If you’re willing to make the jump and accept the job, and a team put you in there, you cannot be judged differently for being young.”