Verstappen defends Antonelli despite incident that ended his race in Austria

It was all over for Verstappen in the opening moments of the race, as Antonelli made contact with the Dutchman's car, forcing both drivers to retire. But there was no sign of anger — the reigning world champion kept his cool throughout.

"We had a good start, so that was already an improvement over the last races'', he told media including GP Blog after the race. ''Then it was over in the third turn, but at that moment, I didn't know what happened''.

Verstappen soon realised he had to quit the race. "We had quite some damage to the car, so iI was out. It was an accident, but there was also bad luck during the qualifying. If you look at the entire weekend, this is not where we want to be."

Asked about the incident and Antonelli’s clear responsibility, Verstappen simply shrugged it off: "I just asked what happened, as he had the only car with wheels hanging off. When I saw the footage, I was sure, but these things happen."

Concluding, the Dutchman said that these kinds of incidents are just part of the sport — even though it had been over 400 days since his last retirement: ''Ultimately, this is racing. We have had fantastic moments here (at the Red Bull Ring, ed.), so we'll just have to swallow this."