Carlos Sainz has told Kimi Antonelli to “calm down” after the Mercedes driver called Sainz “an idiot” over team radio during FP2 at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Antonelli was not happy with the placement of Sainz’s Williams on the exit of Stavelot and took to the radio to voice his displeasure.
Carlos Sainz reacts to Kimi Antonelli ‘idiot’ insult
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Antonelli is not the first to call a fellow driver a name whilst in the cockpit, but on this occasion, Sainz said he felt it was unwarranted and suggested his counterpart had broken a rule by throwing the insult.
“I think he felt like I impeded him – I don’t feel like I did,” Sainz said.
“I guess nowadays with the SM [Straight Mode], if you don’t get out of the way exactly, you cannot turn because you have no downforce with the wings open.
“Maybe he felt like I could have got out of the way in a better way.
“But I don’t think he should call me an idiot either, on the radio, I think that’s forbidden, to swear and insult a rival – so I think he should calm down a bit.”
F1 drivers are generally not punished for insulting each other over the team radio with the FIA scaling back on a swearing ban it tried to introduce last season, meaning Antonelli will face no repercussions for his choice of words.
The stewards also declined to look into Sainz for a possible impediment, suggesting they saw nothing wrong with Sainz’s actions.
Antonelli for his part acknowledged that what he said came in the “heat of the moment” but said what Sainz did was “quite dangerous.”
“He backed off out of a fast corner, you exit in seventh gear, and I had to abort and it was quite risky,” Antonelli said.
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“So of course I was not happy with it and of course what I said probably, in the heat of the moment, is not the best – but it was quite dangerous.”
Away from the incident, Antonelli topped the times in FP2 having been sixth in FP1 and described the difference as a “massive turnaround.”
“It was a massive turnaround with the car because in FP1 we struggled a lot more than anticipated,” the championship leader said. “So it was a good change.
“But of course a lot of work to do because Red Bull is quick, McLaren was up there, so we just need to put things together. But the long run felt very strong as well.
“Obviously, the car changed quite a bit between the two sessions, so a lot of work to do overnight in order to be ready for tomorrow and on Sunday.”
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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