Karun Chandhok saw simple reason Carlos Sainz is not ‘an idiot’ after Kimi Antonelli outburst at Spa

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Karun Chandhok thinks Andrea Kimi Antonelli had a “right to be annoyed” with Carlos Sainz for a near-miss in FP1 at the Belgian Grand Prix, but his outburst was misjudged.

Williams driver Sainz drew the wrath of Mercedes gem Antonelli inside the first 20 minutes of the first practice session at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday. F1 has arrived in the Ardennes forest for round 10 of the season, with Antonelli striving to rebuild his lead in the standings.

Antonelli’s woes en route to P15 in the British Grand Prix last time out at Silverstone, as his Mercedes teammate George Russell finished P2 between the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, saw the Italian’s advantage fade to 25 points ahead of the Belgian GP.

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Karun Chandhok feels Williams left Carlos Sainz in the dark as he drew Kimi Antonelli’s wrath

Spa was a sorry hunting ground for Antonelli last term, as the 19-year-old arguably endured the worst weekend of his rookie season. Antonelli lost all confidence with Mercedes’s car at the 2025 Belgian GP due to their failed rear suspension update, as he qualified P20 and last for the Sprint, finished it in P17, qualified P18 for the Belgian GP and then finished it in P16.

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A clean start to his 2026 Belgian GP would have been high on Antonelli’s wish list. Instead, a moment of frustration unfolded, as Antonelli vented “Sainz, what an idiot!” over Mercedes’ team radio when the Williams driver impeded him on the racing line on the exit of Stavelot.

Former HRT driver Chandhok believes Antonelli was within his rights to be frustrated about Sainz impeding him during FP1 at the Belgian GP on Friday. But it was wrong of Antonelli to call Sainz an idiot, as the Spaniard’s instant reaction caught on his onboard camera showed he did not know the Italian was catching him at speed, so he did not get off the racing line.

Chandhok said on Sky Sports F1 (17/07, 12:48): “Yeah, he’s right to be annoyed with Carlos there… [Sainz] didn’t know he was there.

“[Sainz] was annoyed with the weave, should we say, from Antonelli. But it did not look like Carlos knew he was there. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been dawdling along on the racing line.”

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Onboard footage from Sainz’s Williams showed he immediately moved onto the kerb when he realised that Antonelli was coming up behind him at speed on the exit of Stavelot during FP1 at the Belgian GP on Friday. Yet Antonelli still had to take action to prevent hitting Sainz.

Antonelli was clearly annoyed that Sainz blocked his path and quickly pulled in front of him on the run to Blanchimont to demonstrate his angst. But the incident did not restrict either of their sessions, and Antonelli ultimately went on to end FP1 in P6 as Mercedes’ top driver.

Red Bull rival Max Verstappen set the pace during FP1 at the Belgian GP with a 1:47.070 lap of Spa, as he edged the Ferrari duo of Hamilton and Leclerc. Antonelli ended the hour-long FP1 session 0.533s slower than Verstappen’s best lap, and Russell in P8 was 0.889s slower.