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Formula 1 fans have accused Kimi Antonelli of driving like a ‘rookie’ during the Miami Grand Prix Sprint race, after Charles Leclerc launched a scathing critique of his racecraft over the Ferrari team radio.
The Miami Grand Prix Sprint race was not the current championship leader’s finest Saturday afternoon in F1. Despite much discussion over F1’s rule changes aiding Kimi Antonelli’s starts, the Italian fell back once again at the drop of the lights.
His afternoon took another turn during the opening stages of the race, when Charles Leclerc expressed his fury with the Mercedes star after a scuffle.
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The Monegasque told his race engineer, Bryan Bozzi, over the team radio, “Kimi is so bad wheel to wheel. He moved under braking. It’s unbelievable. We’re going to crash.”
Antonelli’s afternoon went from bad to worse following the chequered flag. He was deemed to have exceeded track limits one too many times during the Sprint and was slapped with a five-second penalty, which took him down to P6 in the final classification.
- READ MORE: Jenson Button says Kimi Antonelli’s ‘silly’ Miami Sprint ‘mistake’ cost him dearly to George Russell
Fans react to Charles Leclerc’s furious team radio about Kimi Antonelli in Miami Sprint
After Leclerc’s words were broadcast by F1 following the incident, fans were quick to express their opinion on Antonelli’s driving standards during the Sprint.
The Italian drew criticism from every corner of F1’s fanbase, including his own loyal supporters, with one fan writing, “I love Kimi, but that move was absolute horror.”
Luckily, the incident didn’t have the same effect as Antonelli and Leclerc’s prior incidents in F1. During the 2025 editions of the Dutch and Sao Paulo GPs, the Ferrari driver was forced to retire after being taken out by his younger rival.
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One fan who remembers the incidents well wrote, “Kimi needs to relax and try NOT to crash into Leclerc, please and thanks,” while another commented, “Lol, that is brutal from Charles. Kimi must be really bad.”
Another labelled the exchange as ‘ugly’, posting, “Leclerc just exposed Kimi on live radio… this is getting ugly,” with a separate fan noting that, “Everyone’s traumatised by Kimi.”
Finally, one fan referenced the multitude of mistakes that Antonelli made during his debut season in the sport. They wrote, “Kimi is being his rookie self again.”
- READ MORE: George Russell admits McLaren and Ferrari’s Miami Grand Prix upgrades are ‘daunting’ for Mercedes
Charles Leclerc detailed his regret for comments on Kimi Antonelli after the race
During his post-race comments to the press, Leclerc outlined his regret for his critique of Antonelli, labelling his words as ‘a bit harsh’.
“I was being a bit harsh, maybe, with the adrenaline inside the car,” he said, via Planet F1. “It’s true that we’ve had our moments with Kimi in the past.
“I hope this calms down a little bit going ahead, especially since he’s the only Italian driver on the grid against Ferrari.
“I wish it were with someone else, and I really like Kimi also as a person. So, no, it’s just sometimes a little bit too close for comfort and not really needed as well.
So in this particular case, I was quite angry in the car, but the comments were probably a bit too harsh.”
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