Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli finished third at the Austrian Grand Prix on June 28, 2026, despite dropping to fifth place after going off the track three times during the opening two laps at the Red Bull Ring.
The Formula 1 championship leader started the race from fourth position but ran over the sausage kerb onto the escape road at Turn 1 before suffering a similar excursion at Turn 3.
>>> Red Bull to Review Austrian GP Strategy After Verstappen Misses Win
Antonelli later fell behind Max Verstappen after going wide during a lap-two overtake attempt on Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
The weekend had started strongly for the Italian driver, who topped both Friday practice sessions and held provisional pole before aborting his final qualifying lap due to a misunderstanding over yellow flags.
He now holds a 40-point lead over his teammate George Russell in the championship standings.
"It was a weekend where I started very strong and I think because of that I kind of lowered the intensity a bit too much," said Antonelli.
The 19-year-old explained that he felt tense during qualifying and struggled significantly with his brakes during the initial phase of the Grand Prix.
"Coming to qualifying I just felt a bit tense driving wise.
Was still up there, but I felt like I wasn't driving that well and not as free," said Antonelli.
Despite the early setbacks and mistakes, Antonelli recovered his pace as the race progressed through the final stints.
"Of course the last lap went like that, but I was a tenth behind George so it probably would have been P2," said Antonelli.
