Kimi Antonelli has opened up about the dramatic opening-lap crash with Max Verstappen at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix, a moment that brought both of their races to a sudden and early end.
The young Mercedes driver, still in his debut Formula 1 season, lost control under braking into Turn 3 and has a crash with the side of Verstappen’s Red Bull, eliminating two major contenders from the race.
The crash, which occurred just moments after the lights went out, was one of the biggest talking points of the Red Bull Ring weekend. Speaking after the race, Antonelli admitted the mistake was down to brake issues rather than overly aggressive driving.
“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,” Antonelli said of the crash with Verstappen.
“Then I just couldn’t stop the car. I locked the rear and then lost the car, and then had to avoid Lawson. Then it was too late because I was arriving just too quick. I started to lock the front and instead of decelerating, I was accelerating. The car was just taking speed and the crash was inevitable.”
Antonelli takes full blame for Verstappen DNF
The crash brought a wave of disappointment for both Mercedes and Red Bull, with Verstappen being an unfortunate victim in a race where he was hoping to make up ground in the championship standings. Antonelli, who became the youngest driver to ever stand on an F1 podium earlier this season, did not shy away from accepting fault.
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“Just feel super sorry to the team, and to Max of course, because obviously he was just a passenger,” he said. “Of course, it’s a big mistake. Now we need to move forward and focus on Silverstone. We’ll see if we get a penalty or not, but it’s going to be important to get back and start doing like I did in Canada.”
Antonelli is coming off a high at the Canadian Grand Prix, where he scored his first F1 podium behind George Russell, who won the race for Mercedes. That result had raised hopes that the Brackley team was on a resurgence, but the incident in Austria was a stark reminder of the volatility in Antonelli’s rookie campaign.
