Is the Mercedes 19-Year-Old Star a Reckless Driver?
The United States Grand Prix opened and ended to excitement, with crashes occurring both in the sprint race on Saturday and during the main race. The collision in the sprint race was by far the most catastrophic of the weekend, scrambling the grid and sending Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg to the back after suffering significant damage to his car. In the Grand Prix, only two cars collided after Williams racer Carlos Sainz attempted an aggressive overtake that sent him into Mercedes rookie driver Kimi Antonelli. Sainz has been subject to many incidents throughout the season that have largely not been his fault, but Antonelli has been involved in many collisions that may leave a stain on his record.
Having earned a myriad of unpleasant nicknames online for his collisions, Antonelli’s mistakes have been chalked up to his rookie status. In this way, he follows a similar path to that of his teammate, George Russell, who was known for a large number of mistakes before taking the first seat in his team. However, in the race today, Kimi was not the one responsible for making contact. Carlos Sainz came up on the inside of turn 15, a technique he has employed many times before to achieve an overtake, but instead found himself in the rear of Antonelli’s car. From an outside view, it may have looked as if Antonelli were responsible for giving the Spaniard room for the overtake. It is usually the responsibility of the outside car on a turn to provide space once they see a car coming up in their mirrors, which might mean Antonelli was careless and did not see Sainz coming, and Sainz would later declare that this was exactly what happened.
The FIA has reviewed the incident carefully and concluded that the opposite was true. At the time that Antonelli turned through the apex, Sainz was not within the mirrors of Antonelli’s car. This meant that Sainz's aggressive play had brought him up on Antonelli too far into the turn, leaving the Mercedes driver no time to react. The damage to Antonelli’s car was minor, but Sainz was unable to continue shortly after making contact. Sainz would normally have faced a 10-second penalty, but having not finished, he will instead be subject to a five-place grid penalty at the Grand Prix in Mexico. Antonelli was vocal about his frustration with Sainz, but the FIA clearing the air will help him maintain a clean reputation.
