After taking pole position on Friday, Kimi Antonelli was unable to confirm his pace in the Miami GP Sprint Race due to what happened at the start with Oscar Piastri. The Italian driver was forced to run wide at Turn 1 to avoid contact with the Australian’s McLaren.
The current championship leader widened his line, leaving little space for the number 12 Mercedes. This didn’t sit well with Antonelli, who immediately complained over the radio. “He pushed me off the track,” he told his race engineer Bono right away.
Race control later decided not to penalize Oscar Piastri, defining the incident as a simple ‘Turn 1 contact.’ A decision that didn’t fully convince the young Italian talent, who repeatedly expressed his frustration over the radio.
Antonelli’s race was also affected by an incident in the pitlane. During the pit stop sequence, there was an unsafe release by Red Bull with Max Verstappen, which prevented the rookie from stopping at his pit box for a tyre change. Kimi was therefore forced to drive through the entire pitlane, effectively turning it into a drive-through.
Kimi furious with Piastri
After the Sprint Race, Kimi Antonelli commented on the incident with Oscar Piastri, expressing strong feelings. “Oscar definitely made good use of the rules, since it seems like you can do whatever you want on the first lap. He literally shoved me off. I had started to turn and he went completely straight. It seems that’s allowed, so good to know,” said the Mercedes driver.
“As for the unsafe release, that was just bad luck. Max couldn’t do anything because they gave him the green light. We were lucky it didn’t turn into a serious accident, especially for the mechanics. It’s a shame, but now we’ll get ready for qualifying. I’m a bit disappointed with the race and angry about the first lap, but I’ve understood what to do next time,” Kimi Antonelli added.
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