Kimi Antonelli felt he was "too excited" in the opening laps of the Austrian Grand Prix - after missing joining the "party" late on against Max Verstappen.
From fourth, the championship leader went off track three times by Turn 1 of Lap 2, and was engaged in a battle with the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Antonelli eventually finished in third place despite clawing chunks of time out of Verstappen in the closing stages, but fell short of overhauling the Red Bull to nab second place.
The Italian's points lead is now 40 over team-mate George Russell following Russell's victory, as he reflected on a messy grand prix, which came alive after a mid-race "reset."
"I was a bit too excited in the first few laps, and definitely didn't drive well and did too many mistakes," Antonelli reflected.
"And even in the first stint on the medium, I lost three or four seconds with mistakes. I was struggling with the brakes.
"But after I changed tyres, I reset, and the pace at the end was very strong, and it was a shame that I joined the party a bit too late.
"Two or three more laps would have been a lot of fun, but congratulations to George and Max, it was a really great weekend on my side, but there is a lot to improve, and still minimise the mistakes."
Originally published by RacingNews365 —
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