Kimi Antonelli details Austrian GP Max Verstappen crash: "Was inevitable"

Antonelli crashed with Verstappen in the opening lap of the Austrian Grand Prix

Andrea Kimi Antonelli has addressed his opening lap crash with Max Verstappen at the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver locked his rear brakes at Turn 3 and collided with the side of the four-time Formula 1 champion. Both were forced to retire from the race as a result.

The Italian driver confirmed that it wasn't late braking, but rather locking up the rears that caused him to lose control.

"I didn’t necessarily brake too late, it’s just that when I braked, I braked hard because I was behind other cars, and in that moment I locked the rears," he explained to Sky Sports. "Then I just couldn’t stop the car.

"I locked the rear and then lost the car, and then had to avoid Lawson. Then it was too late because I was arriving just too quick. I started to lock the front and instead of decelerating, I was accelerating. The car was just taking speed and the crash was inevitable."

Taking responsibility for the crash with Verstappen, Antonelli issued an apology to the Mercedes team and the Red Bull driver. The 18-year-old driver acknowledged that the incident could result in a penalty which would carry over to the British Grand Prix next week.

"Just feel super sorry to the team, and to Max of course, because obviously he was just a passenger," he continued.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images

"Of course, it’s a big mistake. Now we need to move forward and focus on Silverstone. We’ll see if we get a penalty or not, but it’s going to be important to get back and start doing like I did in Canada."

This comes on the back of Antonelli's first F1 podium in Canada with a third-place finish behind his team-mate George Russell, who secured the victory. However, despite the optimism from the strong 1-3 finish for the Brackley outfit in Montreal, team chief Toto Wolff was keen to temper expectations ahead of Austria.

"Building on the momentum from Canada is therefore our focus," Wolff explained.

"The track in Spielberg will be a good test of our recent updates and provide another reference point for our progress.

"There is still a long way to go this season. We will look to maximise our points scoring and hopefully be able to challenge for the podium once again."