"It never feels good to take someone out," claims Antonelli after sending Leclerc into the wall at Zandvoort
Having tagged the side of Charles Leclerc and sent the Monegasque into the wall at the Turn 3 banking, Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli conceded that it "never feels good to take someone out."
Starting from fifth on the grid, George Russell lost a place to Charles Leclerc at the start. The Briton then looked to struggle to follow the Monegasque as he started to fall back.
However, the safety car brought out for Lewis Hamilton's crash enabled Russell to leapfrog Leclerc as the Monegasque had completed his tyre change a lap earlier.
The pair then battled it out on the track, and Leclerc completed a sensational, but aggressive manoeuvre at the chicane. However, Leclerc and Russell made contact during the battle, and the Mercedes man picked up car damage which led to him letting his team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli through.
Things got even more complicated when Antonelli pitted in the later stages of the race, and Ferrari brought Leclerc in to counter. The Monegasque rejoined the track ahead of the Italian, but the Mercedes driver got it wrong and tagged the side of Leclerc when he tried to send it up the inside into Turn 3.
The incident forced Leclerc to retire from the action while Antonelli suffered a puncture and was handed a 10-second time penalty before also receiving a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. As for Russell, despite his damage he climbed to fourth when those two tangled.
Reflecting on his race at Zandvoort, Antonelli said: "The outcome of today’s race was such a shame. Our pace was really strong, and I was feeling great in the car.
"Despite starting P11, I’d gained several positions and was looking ahead to see if we could get ourselves into the fight for the podium. We certainly would have achieved a good result if it were not for the incident with Leclerc.
Explaining what happened at the race-deciding contact, the Italian noted: "As we closed on Charles, we saw an opportunity to try the undercut. We gained time by doing so and we emerged almost together on track.
"I tried to keep it tight into Turn 3 as he came out but unfortunately, even though the oversteer from my side was not that massive, I could not avoid contact as he was coming down the banking. Sorry to Charles and Ferrari as it never feels good to take someone out and end their race like this.
"I am now looking forward to Monza, my second home race. Single lap work is my priority as obviously starting at the front for each Grand Prix would be more beneficial for us. The positive we can take from Zandvoort is that our pace was strong so we will continue to work hard and I am sure the results will come soon."
