Charles Leclerc pins some of crash blame on Kimi Antonelli

Charles Leclerc suggested Kimi Antonelli should shoulder some of the blame for a three-way crash in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

Leclerc was wiped out of Sunday’s race at Interlagos when McLaren’s Oscar Piastri clattered into the side of Antonelli at Turn 1 at an early Safety Car restart and punted the Mercedes driver into the side of his Ferrari.

The Monegasque retired after sustaining heavy damage to the front-left corner of his SF-25, bringing a premature end to a race in which he was running third at the time of the incident.

The FIA stewards deemed Piastri to be wholly at fault for the collision and handed the Australian a 10-second time penalty.

However, Leclerc felt Antonelli could have done more to avoid the three-way clash.

"Oscar was optimistic but Kimi knew that Oscar was on the inside, I think, and he kind of did the corner like Oscar was never there,” Leclerc told Sky Sports F1.

"For me the blame is not all on Oscar. Yes, it was optimistic, but this could have been avoided. I'm frustrated.

“At the end of the day I'm not angry with Oscar or Kimi, these things happen, but I wouldn't go as far as saying it was all Oscar's fault. I don't think it is.”

What Antonelli and Piastri said

Explaining the accident from his side, Antonelli insisted he could not see Piastri in his mirrors.

“I had a bad restart, got some wheelspin, was a bit too aggressive on power,” he said.

“To be fair I was trying to cover Charles but then I saw Piastri coming. Obviously it wasn’t the best position to be in. I tried to brake late without locking up or anything.

“I tried to leave space for Charles and then try not to close excessively on the inside, because when I broke, I didn’t see Piastri anymore.

“Then obviously he locked up and he started to miss the apex and then he hit me. It was a bit hit to be fair, just a shame to end Charles’s race.”

Meanwhile, Piastri stressed he had no regrets as he couldn’t simply “disappear” at the corner.

"No I don't think so [about any regrets],” Piastri, who has fallen 24 points behind McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the championship, said.

"I had a very clear opportunity, I went for it. The other two on the outside braked quite late. There was obviously a bit of a lock-up into the corner but that's because I could see Kimi was not going to give me any space.

"I can't disappear but the decision is what it is."