"Our full focus is already on Silverstone," claims Antonelli after disappointing weekend at Spielberg
Having retired from the Austrian Grand Prix following a collision with reigning champion Max Verstappen, Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli reckons that his "full focus is already on Silverstone."
Despite his promising pace on Friday, Andrea Kimi Antonelli started the Austrian Grand Prix from P9 on the grid. The Italian displayed strong performance in qualifying, but he was unable to complete his last push lap in Q3 due to yellow flags brought out for a spin of Pierre Gasly.
Although he hoped for better fortunes in the Spielberg race, his afternoon ended after just three corners. The Bologna-born driver locked up the rear brakes of his Mercedes into Turn 3, and was unable to decelerate enough to avoid the back of Max Verstappen’s RB21.
With both cars having suffered significant damage, both Antonelli and Verstappen were forced to retire from the Austrian Grand Prix.
His team-mate George Russell picked off his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton into Turn 1, but lost the place back quite quickly. The British driver was unable to challenge the McLarens and the Ferraris as his Mercedes struggled for race day on the hot day at the Red Bull Ring.
Reflecting on his short day at the Red Bull Ring, Antonelli reckoned: "I am very disappointed with how today played out. After the lights went out, I was just trying to maintain my starting position but made a mistake coming into Turn Three and that cost me a lot.
"I did not brake too late but after trying to avoid Liam (Lawson) I locked the rear brakes. I then locked the front brakes too and could not avoid the crash with Max (Verstappen).
"We didn’t get to see how our race would have played out so apologies to the team. I also want to say sorry to Max for ruining his race too. This was a big mistake, and I know we could have fought for a good result without it.
"Thankfully, we’ve got a race straight away next weekend, so our full focus is already on Silverstone," concluded the Bologna-born driver.
