Leclerc-Antonelli crash: Kimi explains after the Dutch GP

A disappointing weekend for Antonelli. Nothing in F1 is simple, and the young driver from Bologna is experiencing this firsthand. A deserved pole position and a podium, a few placings, and then a lot of suffering. Mercedes is on his side, and so is Leclerc, as the Monegasque Ferrari driver absolves him in his interview, maintaining that his mistake can happen even to an experienced driver.

Antonelli doesn't make full use of the car

Kimi didn't perform particularly well in qualifying. The W16 adapted quite well to the Zandvoort track, boasting a fairly solid front axle. Russell was able to exploit this, as well as the Mercedes' ability to warm up the tires within the usage window. This also helped the Englishman finish fifth in Saturday's qualifying session.

Antonelli , on the other hand, is only eleventh, unable to make it into Q3. As for the race, the Bolognese driver showed good pace, trying to take advantage of the various twists and turns to climb back up the order. And he had succeeded, until the close encounter with the number 16 Rossa. A collision that, in addition to knocking out the number 16, destroyed any hope of his race.

In the end, we're talking about a penultimate place . Yes, because Kimi finished only ahead of Pierre Gasly's Alpine, not counting the three retirements of Leclerc, Hamilton, and Norris at the end. Another weekend that ended in bitterness, after the summer break, when a step forward in terms of results was expected. Speaking to the microphones, Antonelli explained what happened and that he had somehow even tried to avoid the collision.

The accident with Leclerc: too much optimism

The driver said he tried to leave space when he saw his opponent coming back in front, but unfortunately, he wasn't able to. He explained that overtaking on this track is particularly difficult, because the more laps you do in a dirty slipstream, the more your tires and pace suffer. Despite this, he decided to attempt the maneuver, admitting that it was probably a bit too risky.

He tried to give up, but without success, and for this very reason he expressed his disappointment, as he had involved a rival whom he ultimately knocked out. Kimi was very sincere and will think twice before attempting a similar overtake in the future, unless he is absolutely certain of succeeding. This is the lesson he has learned and will try to apply from now on.

Speaking about his driving strategy, he emphasized that the wider line into Turn 4 is definitely the fastest, but to initially attack, it was necessary to take the lower line to close the gap. In his case, however, he admits that his Mercedes W16 wasn't close enough to pull off the move: if it had been, the overtaking move would probably have been successful.

Kimi learns several lessons

Finally, he described the damage to the car: the front wing was damaged, as was the entire right side of the floor, which dragged on the asphalt for the entire lap, causing severe vibrations. The steering wheel was no longer straight, and the overall damage was evident. However, Kimi and the team still tried to hold on and bring the car to the finish line in the best possible condition.

There's also time for the penalty issue . Antonelli claims he needs to pay more attention to the speed limit. He's unsure when the violation occurred, but he speculates it may have happened during the first pit stop. In short... many lessons learned to be treasured and improved as much as possible, because in the top category of motorsport, there's hardly any room for even the most trivial error.