Antonelli slammed over ‘silly mistake’ after Miami Sprint Race penalty

The championship leader may have missed out on a podium finish, but he had still managed to outscore his team-mate and main title rival after crossing the line in fourth place. However, a late track limits penalty ultimately dropped him down the order and cost him two potentially valuable championship points.

Analysing the incident on Sky Sports, the 2009 world champion criticised Antonelli for what he viewed as an unnecessary error, pointing out that the Italian had been comfortably on course for fourth place before the penalty proved costly in the title fight:"The track limits breach, that’s just… I don’t want to say a silly mistake, but it is really. It was an easy fourth position for him, and he’s just lost three points to his biggest title rival."

The Italian could have headed into tomorrow’s race with an even bigger advantage and additional pressure on Russell’s shoulders. Instead, the gap now stands at just seven points, with Russell having another opportunity to close in further should he finish ahead again in the main race.

Antonelli was also involved in a tense moment with the Monegasque driver after being accused of moving under braking during an attempted move around the outside. Speaking after the race, Leclerc admitted his reaction may have been overly harsh in the heat of the moment, with adrenaline still running high inside the cockpit.

The Ferrari driver also acknowledged that he and Antonelli have already shared a few tense on-track moments in the past and expressed hope that the situation will settle down in the future, especially considering the Italian is currently the only driver from Italy on the Formula 1 grid alongside Ferrari. Leclerc also stressed that he has a good relationship with Antonelli away from the track, but felt some of their recent battles had crossed the line unnecessarily. The Ferrari driver admitted he was “quite angry” over team radio during the incident and conceded his comments afterwards may have gone too far.