Antonelli earns criticism from Villeneuve after 'rookie mistake' that knocked Verstappen out of Austrian GP

The serious yet naive misjudgment made by Kimi Antonelli in the very early stages of the Austrian GP had heavy consequences not only for himself but especially for Max Verstappen.

The four-time world champion, who still had chances to fight McLaren for his fifth consecutive title, now finds himself a full 61 points behind Oscar Piastri, and his hopes have significantly dwindled.

The young Italian immediately admitted his fault, apologized to his team, and personally apologized to Verstappen, who quickly moved past the incident without holding any grudges: "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," he said on his Instagram.

"These mistakes happen. The wheels locked in the car. I'm not entirely sure if it was his fault or the system’s,'' Toto Wolff instead said after the race defending his driver.

Unlike Wolff, Villeneuve did blame Antonelli for the crash in turn three: “Not a good day for Red Bull with Antonelli making a rookie mistake resulting in Verstappen crashing out'', he told via his Instagram account.

''He should have known the hairpin in the first round. He has been here in F2. He knows it goes slow here. But even experienced drivers have made that mistake, so he will learn from it,”  the 1997 world champion concluded.

As a result, Antonelli also received a three-place grid penalty for the next Grand Prix, and two penalty points on his super license as well.