Verstappen ‘all fine’ with Antonelli after crash

After being torpedoed into retirement by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli in the Austrian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen remarked, “every driver has made a mistake like that.”

Verstappen’s Red Bull collided with Antonelli in the third corner of the race, causing both to fall out of the race.

Verstappen once said, “Kimi is very talented, so he learns from that, you know, and that’s fine.”

Verstappen immediately offered an apology to Antonelli following the incident, saying: “It’s, of course, very nice. However, for me, it was already case closed. What transpired was what I witnessed. No one does these things for a reason. It is possible.

Instead of turning to the outside of the track, where hitting another car was always a possibility, Antonelli was caught unawares by the front-ending cars.

The 18-year-old told BBC Radio 5 Live, “I didn’t brake necessarily until I was too late, when I braked, I locked the rears, I lost the car, and I lost the rear.”

I was just trying to slow down the car as I had a big moment, so I had to avoid [Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, who I had to avoid].

Verstappen’s retirement, combined with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri’s one-two, dealt a significant blow to the Dutchman in the drivers’ championship.

The Briton’s third victory of the year saw him trail Piastri by 61 points, with the Briton’s lead over Norris having been cut by 15 points.

Verstappen once said, “I was never thinking about that at all.” So, yes, we simply follow the rules. And we only succeed in achieving better car performance. Try to take lessons from everything we do. We’ll wait and see what happens next.

When asked what he thought of his chances for the Silverstone International Grand Prix on Saturday, he responded, “We are usually a little better in the high, high speed (corners). But McLaren moves at such a fast pace, I mean. Therefore, I don’t intend for us to defeat them in Silverstone.

And he claimed that while Red Bull is getting more and more upgrades to the floor edge, it will not coincide that they will allow him to consistently fight for victories.

Verstappen remarked, “There are bits coming. Is McLaren up against it, then? I’m not certain yet. Not likely.