Kimi Antonelli: Oscar Was Wrong in São Paulo

      On Wednesday in Vegas, Kimi Antonelli was asked about the incident in São Paulo involving him and the penalty Oscar Piastri received.

      At the time, Antonelli had wheelspin at the restart; in the first corner he was attacked by Piastri and Charles Leclerc, and Kimi turned as if Piastri wasn't approaching him on the inside line at high speed.

      Kimi Antonelli: "If you follow the rules for drivers, then Oscar was wrong. As you know, the stewards follow the rules, and that's why he was penalized.

      You know, in Zandvoort I received a similar penalty. The situation was a bit different, but the dynamics were similar. In Zandvoort I was slightly behind, I collided with Charles and received a penalty.

      With Oscar, the thing is that before braking he was alongside, but he braked much earlier than me. And from the position when he was fully alongside, his front wing ended up behind my wheel, around my rear wheel.

      Three cars were entering the corner together, which is always difficult. It all happened so quickly that it was hard to react. I was trying to give Charles room and while braking I didn't see Oscar's car; I didn't know he had braked much earlier than I had.

      Then Piastri locked up, I moved slightly and we collided. I consider it a racing incident. But if you stick to the rules, the penalty is fair, because it didn't show up in my mirror, it wasn't at the level of my mirror. And that's how it was.

      Maybe the penalty may seem too harsh, maybe it was a racing incident — the situation was complicated. But those are the rules, and in Qatar we'll discuss this going forward so that next time we avoid incidents."