Kimi Antonelli owns up to critical yellow flag error that cost him front row at F1 Austrian GP
Kimi Antonelli has admitted to making a key error amid the late drama in Austrian Grand Prix qualifying.
Formula 1 championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli has taken the blame for making a costly error in aborting his final lap of qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix.
There was a dramatic conclusion to Q3 in Spielberg after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen crashed in the final moments of qualifying in a last-ditch bid to snatch a shock pole position.
Verstappen suffered a sudden snap at Turn 9 and could not prevent his Red Bull car from spinning off into the barriers at high speed, an incident which led to the yellow flags being waved.
Despite the yellow flag and lifting into the final corner, George Russell was still able to claim pole by two tenths of a second from the Ferrari’s of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
But Russell’s team-mate and title rival Antonelli gave up on his lap, having mistakenly believed to have seen double yellow flags waved.
“I think I saw double yellow, even. So it probably was my mistake,” the Italian teenager conceded to media including Crash.net after qualifying.
“I aborted the lap and that was it. So my mistake on just the execution. But yeah, looking forward to tomorrow.”
Asked if he was warned of the yellow flags via team radio, Antonelli replied: “I heard yellow yellow, but the thing [was] I was looking at the marshal and probably, I don't know, I saw wrong and I just saw two flags instead of one and I aborted.
“Also it was hard to see because there was the sun in the face and I just looked at the marshal, because the panel went yellow, but of course, you don't know if it's a single or double.
“So I looked at the marshal and it was hard to see and I just saw double yellow instead of one, and I just aborted completely.”
While owning up to his own mistake, Antonelli is adamant the incident should have been covered by double yellows instead of a single.
“There was a car in the wall in a fast corner. So I think in this situation, I don't know why it didn't go double yellow straight away because it's a super quick corner and if you go off at the same time, it can end up very badly,” he explained.
“So that was a bit confusing, but it is what it is.”
Antonelli added: “For sure, it's something that needs to be reviewed, but especially when it happens in a high-speed corner. If it's a low speed, single yellow can be okay. But fast corner, it should be double yellow straight away.”
Had Antonelli not aborted his lap, he was convinced he would have joined Russell on the front row.
“I was one-tenth behind him so it would have been front row, but still not enough for pole," he added.
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