Spielberg, June 29 (IANS) Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli has been hit with a three-place grid penalty for the upcoming British Grand Prix after the stewards found him at fault for a collision with Max Verstappen on Lap 1 in Austria.

After starting from P9 on the grid, Antonelli locked up the rear brakes of his Mercedes into Turn 3, causing him to hit Verstappen’s Red Bull which put both cars out of the race.

Both were summoned to the stewards over the incident, where the verdict was that Antonelli was “fully at fault” for what happened, though it was also acknowledged that the move had been a “result of the evasive action after locking up”.

A document released following the stewards’ meeting stated, “In the hearing the driver admitted that he made a mistake as he locked up the rear wheels while using his regular braking point, but also pointed out that he needed to avoid a collision with Car 30 [Liam Lawson] in front of him and released the brakes for a short period of time to do so.

“Taking evasive action led to the car having less grip on the dirty inside line and therefore he was not able to decelerate the car in a way to avoid the collision with Car 1.

“The stewards determine that, although the incident happened in Lap 1, no other cars influenced the incident and the driver of Car 12 is fully at fault. Therefore the more lenient approach to judging Lap 1 incidents has not been applied in this case.

“However, they also acknowledge that the incident was not a blatant attempt to dive into the corner but rather a result of the evasive action after locking up.”

Given that the teenager was unable to continue in the race, the penalty decided upon was a three-place grid drop for the next race – that being Silverstone next weekend on July 4-6 – as well as two penalty points on his licence.

Speaking after his early exit from the race at the Red Bull Ring, Antonelli said: “I think I had a normal start, then going up to T3 I was just trying to maintain the position. I didn’t want to do anything because I knew there was no space in front, but then when I hit the brake I locked the rear and I got caught by that.

“When I locked the rear, I lost the car and then I had to first avoid the Racing Bull [of Lawson], but then I just couldn’t stop the car. Unfortunately I hit Max and I just feel very sorry towards the team, and him of course.

“I just apologised straight away. I recognise it’s all on me and I just feel sorry because I ended my race, but I ended his as well.”

Verstappen was seemingly accepting of Antonelli’s apology, the World Champion reflecting on the incident said, “Unlucky, I guess. It is what it is. I spoke quickly to Kimi, he came with me to the hospitality. I think every driver has made a mistake like that. No one does that on purpose as well so for me, that’s not a big deal,” said Verstappen post-race.

--IANS

aaa/