‘No one does that on purpose’ – Verstappen gives verdict on ‘unlucky’ race-ending collision in Austria

Max Verstappen had a weekend to forget at the Red Bull Ring as his race came to an end on the opening lap due to a collision with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, leading to the Dutchman labelling himself “unlucky”.

While McLaren have consistently appeared to be the strongest team throughout the season, Verstappen has kept himself firmly in the battle in the Drivers' Standings, but his Championship ambitions took a major knock at the Austrian Grand Prix.

After showing good signs of pace in practice, he was unable to set a final flying lap in Qualifying as Pierre Gasly’s spin brought out the yellow flags, preventing the Red Bull driver from cutting down his lap time.

This led to him starting the race from P7, two spots ahead of Antonelli. In the expected first lap chaos, the Italian locked the rear wheels of his car and struggled to make the corner, tagging Verstappen and taking them both out of the race.

Asked to explain his perspective of the incident, Verstappen said: “Unlucky, I guess. It is what it is. I spoke quickly to Kimi, he came with me to the hospitality.

“I think every driver has made a mistake like that. No one does that on purpose as well so for me, that’s not a big deal.

“It was not the weekend that I guess we hoped for pace wise. Then of course we were a little bit unlucky in Qualifying with that yellow flag, otherwise you start a bit further ahead.

"Then the race was unlucky again. Sometimes you have those weekends.”

The result marked Verstappen’s first DNF since the 2024 Australian Grand Prix and meant that Red Bull scored no points at the circuit, with Yuki Tsunoda finishing last in the order – he was embroiled in a number of incidents with Franco Colapinto, earning him a 10-second time penalty when he tagged the Alpine driver into a spin.

Meanwhile, it was Antonelli’s third DNF of the season, and he was immediately regretful following the collision when speaking to media afterwards, with the Italian hit with a three-place grid drop for Silverstone as a result.

“I think I had a normal start, then going up to T3 I was just trying to maintain the position,” he said. “I didn’t want to do anything because I knew there was no space in front, but then when I hit the brake I locked the rear and I got caught by that.

“When I locked the rear, I lost the car and then I had to first avoid the Racing Bull [of Liam Lawson], but then I just couldn’t stop the car. Unfortunately I hit Max and I just feel very sorry towards the team, and him of course.

“I just apologised straight away. I recognise it’s all on me and I just feel sorry because I ended my race, but I ended his as well.”