Mercedes youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been given a three-place grid penalty after crashing into Max Verstappen during Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix.
Antonelli crashed into Verstappen at Turn 3, with both men forced to withdraw from the race as a result.
Explaining the crash in the afftermath, the 18-year-old said: “I didn’t necessarily brake too late, it’s just that when I braked, I braked hard because I was behind other cars, and in that moment I locked the rears."
Now, however, the teenager has been slapped with a three-place grid penalty ahead of next weekend's British Grand Prix.
Mercedes youngster Andrea Kimi Antonelli has been given a three-place grid penalty after crashing into Max Verstappen during Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix
REUTERS
The stewards' report read: “The driver of Car 12 locked up the rear brakes into Turn 3 and collided with Car 1.
“In the hearing the driver admitted that he made a mistake as he locked up the rear wheels while using his regular braking point, but also pointed out that he needed to avoid a collision with Car 30 in front of him and released the brakes for a short period of time to do so.
“Taking evasive action led to the car having less grip on the dirty inside line and therefore he was not able to decelerate the car in a way to avoid the collision with Car 1.
JUST IN: Max Verstappen makes feelings clear after Kimi Antonelli crash at Austrian Grand Prix
“The Stewards determine that, although the incident happened in Lap 1, no other cars influenced the incident and the driver of Car 12 is fully at fault.
“Therefore the more lenient approach to judging Lap 1 incidents has not been applied in this case. However, they also acknowledge that the incident was not a blatant attempt to dive into the corner but rather a result of the evasive action after locking up.
“As the driver was not able to continue the race a grid drop for the next race is applied.”
READ MORE:Emma Raducanu gives Carlos Alcaraz romance rumours direct response ahead of Wimbledon
Antonelli 💥 Verstappen: Here's the incident 🎥#F1 #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/hWuRLjZoxP
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 29, 2025
Verstappen, meanwhile, dubbed the incident 'unlucky' when speaking after the race.
The Red Bull star, who is now 61 points ahead of Oscar Piastri at the top of the standings, stated: “It’s just unlucky, like yesterday in qualifying.
“But overall, we didn’t really have that great pace anyway this weekend, so a lot of learning for us how we can hopefully do better next weekend. But of course, not an ideal result today.”
LATEST SPORTS NEWS:
Verstappen also admitted that Red Bull must just 'do the best they can' as they continue to trail behind their rivals.
"We try to do our best, always. My mentality doesn't change," he continued.
"We’ve won a lot in the past. Sometimes you have to accept that you are not winning, and we just try to do the best that we can.
Kimi Antonelli crashed into Max Verstappen during the early stages of the Austrian Grand Prix
REUTERS
“Hopefully then people will not mention it [his title chances] too much anymore.”
The British Grand Prix takes place next weekend on July 6.
Lewis Hamilton, who finished fourth in Austria, will be hoping to claim victory just as he did at Silverstone 12 months ago.
Most Read
