Charles Leclerc casts verdict after Kimi Antonelli crash triggers Dutch GP DNF

Charles Leclerc can understand Kimi Antonelli’s need to be “very aggressive”, though he felt the move that eliminated the Ferrari driver from the Dutch Grand Prix was “too much”.

It was a collision – one that Antonelli took the blame for – which rubber-stamped a bitterly disappointing Grand Prix Sunday for Ferrari at Zandvoort, as Mercedes clawed back crucial points on the Scuderia in the battle for P2 in the Constructors’ Championship.

Charles Leclerc deems Kimi Antonelli move ‘a bit too much’

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The first blow for Ferrari came when Lewis Hamilton terminally tagged the wall at Turn 3. By Lap 33, Leclerc had muscled his way past George Russell for fifth, the pair making contact in the process, before the Ferrari drivers’ race unravelled due to the collision with Antonelli in the other Mercedes.

Russell conceded position to Antonelli after his car was damaged in battle with Leclerc. When the Monegasque driver pitted to cover Antonelli’s final stop, fresh drama unfolded.

The Mercedes driver lunged down the inside of Leclerc into the banked Turn 3, drifting wide and shunting the Ferrari into the wall and retirement. Leclerc watched the rest of the proceedings perched upon a sand dune.

“It’s a mistake from Kimi,” said Leclerc of the incident when he spoke to media, including PlanetF1.com.

“I think you’ve got to be very aggressive on a track like this to overtake, which I think he tried to be aggressive. Maybe it was a bit too much, and he went on to touch my rear left, and that was the end of my race. So it’s disappointing.”

Asked if he considered it a rookie error from the teenager, Leclerc responded: “I mean, I wouldn’t describe it as a rookie mistake. I think it’s just a mistake which can happen the first year or the fifth year.

“And again, as I said, on a track like this, you can need to be aggressive, but that was too much.”

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Antonelli readily held his hands up for causing the collision, one which netted him a 10-second time penalty.

Asked how he feels about the incident, Antonelli told Sky F1: “For sure, a bit disappointed.

“The race was looking very good. Pace was strong. I was feeling good in the car. And, yeah, just a shame to have missed out.

“And for the contact, obviously, it’s on me. I tried to avoid it, especially when I saw he was coming back in front, but it was not enough.

“So obviously, feel sorry to Charles and to the team and yeah, now we move forward.”

Antonelli received a further five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Applied at the chequered flag, he was ultimately classified 16th.

With Russell securing fourth, Mercedes reduced the gap to Ferrari and second in the Constructors’ standings to 12 points.

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