Charles Leclerc backtracks on "too harsh" Kimi Antonelli radio outburst in Miami F1 sprint

Charles Leclerc has backtracked after criticising Kimi Antonelli during Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix sprint race, admitting he was “too harsh”.

The pair engaged in an intense early scrap during Saturday’s 19-lap sprint after Antonelli dropped places off the line from second place on the grid with a terrible getaway.

Leclerc and Antonelli avoided making contact but the Ferrari driver felt the Italian went too far with his driving.

"Kimi is.. so bad to wheel to wheel. He moved under braking. It's unbelievable we are going to crash,” Leclerc complained over team radio.

Leclerc ultimately pulled away from Antonelli having successfully managed to keep the F1 championship leader behind.

However, Leclerc changed his stance after the “adrenaline inside the car” had worn off.

"I was being a bit harsh, maybe with the adrenaline inside the car,” Leclerc explained.

“It’s true that we've had our moments with Kimi in the past, and hope this calms down a little bit going ahead, especially he's the only Italian driver on the grid against Ferrari.

“I wish it was with someone else, and then I really like Kimi also as a person. So yeah, it's just sometimes a little bit too close for comfort and and not really needed as well.

“So in this particular case, I was quite angry in the car, but the comments were probably a bit too too harsh.”

Antonelli finished fourth on the road ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell, but was hit with a post-race time penalty for repeated track limits infringements.

The five-second penalty demoted Antonelli to sixth place, costing him potentially crucial points in the title race.

Antonelli goes into Sunday’s grand prix with a seven-point lead over Russell.

Qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix takes place at 9pm UK time.