Antonelli rues ‘mistake’ that cost him Austria front row

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What is F1 TV?F1 GlossaryGet involved2026 RegulationsNewsVideosAntonelli rues ‘mistake’ that cost him Austria front rowVerstappen left searching for answers after Q3 crash in AustriaRussell relieved to hold onto ‘amazing’ Austria poleRussell beats Leclerc to Austria pole after Verstappen crashPlay1:27Verstappen believes P3 'would've been a nice result' and possible in Qualifying if crash avoided 1:41'So sweet, so hooked up' - Russell relishes feeling of taking pole for Austrian GP Alexander AlbonFernando AlonsoKimi AntonelliOliver BearmanGabriel BortoletoValtteri BottasFranco ColapintoPierre GaslyIsack HadjarLewis HamiltonNico HulkenbergLiam LawsonCharles LeclercArvid LindbladLando NorrisEsteban OconSergio PerezOscar PiastriGeorge RussellCarlos SainzLance StrollMax VerstappenAll Drivers Hall of FameTeamsChevron DropdownAlpineAston MartinAudiCadillacFerrariHaas F1 TeamMcLarenMercedesRacing BullsRed Bull RacingWilliamsAll TeamsFantasy & GamingChevron DropdownF1 Sim RacingFantasyF1 25F1 Manager 24F1 PredictF1 ClashF1 Members' AreaMenuFIA if(window.f1MobileDetection.iOSSafari) { var meta = document.createElement("meta"); meta.name = "apple-itunes-app"; meta.content = "app-id=835022598, app-argument=https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-rues-mistake-that-cost-him-austria-front-row-as-he-vows-to-maximise-in-sundays-race.bJ6OpkP7CqirVEkka9jkC.bJ6OpkP7CqirVEkka9jkC"; document.head.appendChild(meta); } {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-rues-mistake-that-cost-him-austria-front-row-as-he-vows-to-maximise-in-sundays-race.bJ6OpkP7CqirVEkka9jkC","url":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-rues-mistake-that-cost-him-austria-front-row-as-he-vows-to-maximise-in-sundays-race.bJ6OpkP7CqirVEkka9jkC","mainEntityOfPage":"https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/antonelli-rues-mistake-that-cost-him-austria-front-row-as-he-vows-to-maximise-in-sundays-race.bJ6OpkP7CqirVEkka9jkC","datePublished":"2026-06-27T16:48:56.951Z","dateModified":"2026-06-27T16:48:56.951Z","headline":"Kimi Antonelli rues ‘mistake’ that cost him Austria front row as he vows to ‘maximise’ in Sunday’s race","author":"F1","description":"Despite showing impressive pace throughout the weekend so far, Kimi Antonelli missed out on pole position in Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix after a \"mistake\".","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.formula1.com/image/upload/t_16by9Centre/f_auto/q_auto/v1782578468/fom-website/2026/Austria/GettyImages-2283580108.jpg"},"isAccessibleForFree":"true","publisher":{"@type":"SportsOrganization","@id":"https://www.formula1.com#organization","name":"Formula 1","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.formula1.com/etc/designs/fom-website/social/f1-default-share.jpg","width":"480","height":"120"}}}Kimi AntonelliMercedesAustriaShow more tagsAntonelli rues ‘mistake’ that cost him Austria front row as he vows to ‘maximise’ in Sunday’s raceDespite showing impressive pace throughout the weekend so far, Kimi Antonelli missed out on pole position in Qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix after a "mistake". Kimi Antonelli was left to rue a “mistake” that cost him a potential front row grid slot in Qualifying at the Austrian Grand Prix, with the championship leader now focused on “maximising” from P4. Antonelli had been on the pace throughout the weekend so far at the Red Bull Ring, topping both of Friday’s practice sessions before securing provisional pole during the opening laps of Q3 in Saturday’s Qualifying. However, as the final runs of the session played out, Antonelli opted to abort his lap when Max Verstappen crashed at Turn 9, the Italian going on to explain that he believed double yellow flags were being waved rather than single. As such, he was unable to improve on his previous effort and found himself falling back to fourth behind team mate George Russell – who claimed pole position, having lifted at the scene of the yellow flags – as well as the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton. “It was unfortunate, but realistically it was a mistake from my side because I thought I saw double yellows and instead it was a single, so I completely aborted the lap when I could have just done a lift like George did,” Antonelli said after the session. “But yeah, I think I was a tenth slower than George up to that point, so it still would have been difficult to get pole but at least front row was there.” Given his speed across the weekend up until that point, Antonelli was quizzed on whether he still felt in the mix for victory in Sunday’s Grand Prix. “Yeah, for sure,” the 19-year-old responded. “It would have been more ideal to start more at the front, but it is what it is and the most important is that tomorrow we try to get a good start and then maximise from there.” F1FacebookXInstagramYouTube© 2003-2026 Formula One World Championship Limited