Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) after the Verstappen crash: “I’m really angry!”

Social media is abuzz, with fans currently engaged in a heated debate over whether everything was above board at the end of the thrilling Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session.

Many Formula 1 fans still cannot understand why George Russell was able to set a time fast enough for pole position despite Max Verstappen’s crash and the yellow flags.

Many drivers had been on their final flying lap during those seconds – and abandoned it. World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was no exception. As a result, the 19-year-old from Bologna will start the Austrian Grand Prix in fourth place on 27 June.

In those crucial seconds, Kimi saw the yellow flag, then he could already hear his race engineer Peter Bonnington in his ear: “Yellow, yellow, yellow, yellow!”

Antonelli abandoned his attempt, even though he could actually have finished the lap, just as George Russell did. And that really gets the Mercedes teenager up the wall.

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“I’m really angry – but at myself! I made a mistake. I don’t know why, but at that moment I thought there was a double-waved yellow flag at the scene of the accident, so I abandoned the lap as required. But it was apparently just a single yellow flag. It’s a shame, but I have to take the blame for that.”

“I’m absolutely furious with myself because it was a mistake on my part. Unfortunately, that’s probably cost me a place on the front row of the grid.”

Antonelli on the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix: “The race won’t be easy to win because I’m starting fourth, behind the two Ferraris. It won’t be easy, but it’s not impossible either, as my pace is good. And as for the Mercedes’ set-up, we’ve also opted for an approach that’s more geared towards the race.”