Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has come out and lashed out at Isack Hadjar for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Kimi Antonelli and the Red Bull driver collided during the Chinese GP Sprint race, damaging the French-Algerian driver’s Red Bull. As Antonelli approached Hadjar to apologise, the 21-year-old brushed off the Italian.
Kimi Antonelli started the Sprint in P2 but got off to a bad start and lost multiple positions. Isack Hadjar, on the other hand, started in P10 on soft tires while those ahead of him were on medium, and got a great launch off the line, getting up to P8.
Going into Turn 6 on the first lap, Antonelli and Hadjar were parallel when the Mercedes driver understeered into the Red Bull driver. The same caused heavy damage to the RB22’s floor, with carbon fibre flying everywhere. The damage ended the 21-year-old’s hopes of scoring any points as he finished P15.
Kimi Antonelli approached Isack Hadjar after the sprint race in Parc Ferme. The Red Bull driver was still sitting in the car when the Italian approached him. The Mercedes driver apologised and extended his hand. Hadjar refused to accept the apology and waved Antonelli off.
Toto Wolff has now come out and bashed Isack Hadjar’s actions of not accepting the apology and waving the 19-year-old off.
“That’s unsportsmanlike. Waving him away like that is unacceptable,” said Toto Wolff (speaking with Sky Sports)
The Mercedes Boss did suggest that it was indeed Kimi Antonelli’s mistake.
“It was clearly his mistake. I still think ten seconds is a bit harsh. In the end, though, he also cost Hadjar the race. The stewards are in a difficult position to assess the situation correctly,” added Toto Wolff
Kimi Antonelli was given a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision, which he served during his pitstop under the safety car.
Toto Wolff reveals the reason behind Kimi Antonelli’s poor start at the Chinese GP Sprint
Kimi Antonelli got off to a poor start at last weekend’s race in Australia and made his way up the grid to finish P2. At the Chinese GP Sprint, Antonelli again had a poor getaway, almost dropping out of the Top 10, colliding with Isack Hadjar, and recovered to P5 after serving the time penalty.
Toto Wolff revealed the reason behind Antonelli’s poor getaway as he said,
“Kimi forgot to select the correct mode. He didn’t have boost. And if you’re in the wrong mode, you simply can’t get away at all.”
Antonelli managed to take the pole position in the qualifying for the main race, becoming the youngest pole sitter in F1, as the Italian broke Sebastian Vettel’s record. Despite issues for George Russell, Toto Wolff will be satisfied with the performance as Mercedes locked out the front row.
Edited by Pranay Bhagi
