‘It cost a lot’ – Leclerc says Antonelli ‘overly optimistic’ in Dutch GP collision

Charles Leclerc believes that Kimi Antonelli was “overly optimistic” in their collision at the Dutch Grand Prix, with the Monegasque admitting that the incident “cost a lot” after he retired from the running on a day in which Ferrari recorded two non-finishes.

As the race headed towards its final phase, both Leclerc and Antonelli made a pit stop and the two cars emerged next to each other on track. Antonelli then tried to overtake the SF-25 approaching the banking at Turn 3, but in the process made contact that sent Leclerc into the barriers and out of the race.

While the Mercedes managed to limp back to the pits and continue in the Grand Prix after some repairs, Antonelli was handed a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision as well as receiving an additional five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, all of which dropped him down to a final position of P16.

At the time, Leclerc had appeared to suggest over the radio that his pit stop just prior to the incident had been “unnecessary”. When quizzed on this later on, the 27-year-old explained: “I don’t think this should be the story of the day.

“The strategy, we can discuss about it and I just let the team know, but that’s not what created the incident. What created the incident is Kimi being overly optimistic on the inside of Turn 3, which is fine – you’ve got to be aggressive and mistakes happen.

“But it hurts, because it cost a lot to the team after what was a good race. I think the pace was good. I had to be very aggressive to make up the places that we had lost because of being unlucky during the first Safety Car. We did kind of everything right, so it was a shame.”

Having earlier gained positions during the race – which saw him make a bold move on George Russell during a close battle with the Mercedes – Leclerc was asked whether this had been an encouraging sign that there is more performance in Ferrari's car.

“Yeah. It’s been a very difficult weekend,” said Leclerc. “Apart from the race, it’s been an uphill weekend, so I hope we can start on a better foot in Monza and have a better weekend overall.”

Antonelli also gave his take on the incident, with the Silver Arrows driver feeling that he had been enjoying a good Grand Prix up until that point.

“It’s a shame because the race was looking good, the pace was very strong and we were coming back and, yeah, I tried,” conceded Antonelli.

“It didn’t feel like I overshot massively, it was a bit unfortunate because, while I was trying to keep it tight, it came a bit down from the banking and that was the moment when the contact happened.

“It was a shame, I feel sorry because obviously it’s not nice to take someone out. At least [there were] some positives today, and we move forward.”

Looking forward, Antonelli is hopeful that he can continue to build on those positives from the event as he looks to work on his Saturday performances in particular.

“I think race pace has always been strong this year, and it’s nice that this is developing and it’s getting stronger and stronger,” the 19-year-old said. “It’s now more about nailing Qualifying in order to start more at the front, because then it’s completely another story.”