Carlos Sainz praises Kimi Antonelli for apology after “idiot” comment

Kimi Antonelli called Carlos Sainz an “idiot” after feeling impeded in FP1, but subsequently apologised to the Williams driver

Carlos Sainz has praised Kimi Antonelli for spontaneously apologising after the Italian called the Spaniard an “idiot” over team radio at Formula 1’s Belgian Grand Prix.

In the opening practice session at Spa-Francorchamps, Antonelli found a slow Sainz ahead of him at Stavelot. Annoyed, the Mercedes driver expressed his discontent on the track – aborting his attempt and staying close to the Williams – and on the radio: “Sainz, what an idiot!”

“I don’t know what Antonelli was doing with me,” Sainz told his own race engineer. “He throw the car into me, I don’t know why.”

However, Antonelli came up to his peer when they randomly met on Saturday morning.

“This morning we actually woke up at the same time,” Sainz recounted after qualifying. “So we went in the lift at the same time and I saw him and I said, ‘What's up?’

“And the guy is a great guy. He just apologised, said that it was the heat of the moment, that he had seen the replay and I actually didn't impede him that much, for being an FP1 and not being an important lap of the weekend – and, not being impeded that much, that he was being a bit emotional at the time.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images

“And when someone comes out like that and tells that to your face straight away as soon as he sees you, for me it's a show of being a great guy. So I have no other thing than to thank him for it and wish him the best.”

While Antonelli will start from pole position, Sainz qualified 15th – he will start one spot higher courtesy of Isack Hadjar’s grid penalty.

Despite outqualifying team-mate Alex Albon for the 10th time this season and the fifth in a row, the Williams driver described his Belgian GP so far as “such a tough weekend” after a technical problem cost him “three to five tenths” a lap throughout practice, although the situation was resolved for qualifying.

“Happy that we found the issue,” Sainz said. “Not so happy that we cannot explain the issue very well. So we need to keep digging.”