"Kimi Antonelli is a teenager": Jeremy Clarkson reacts to the young Italian's clash with Charles Leclerc

Kimi Antonelli crashed with Charles Leclerc during the 2025 F1 Dutch GP, which led former Top Gear co-host, Jeremy Clarkson, to bash the teenager over X. The Italian understeered into Leclerc, which saw the Monegasque out of the race.

Leclerc had started sixth for the Dutch GP, and Antonelli started down in 11th. While the two drivers followed their own races, when the Italian tried to move into the points, their paths converged on lap 53 as the Ferrari driver was making his way out of the pits.

The 19-year-old tried to take away P7 from the Ferrari, which was out on cold tires. But his attempt at moving ahead ultimately failed as he tagged Leclerc on the rear-left, taking him out of the race.

Subsequently, the Mercedes driver's actions led people to bash him, including Clarkson, who is an avid F1 fan, who wrote on X:

"Antonelli is a teenager."

Jeremy Clarkson

@JeremyClarkson

Antonelli is a teenager.

The incident between Antonelli and Leclerc was soon investigated, and the Italian was deemed to be at fault. He was penalized with a 10-second penalty, with a five-second penalty further rubbing salt into his wounds as Antonelli also exceeded the pitlane speed limit.

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Kimi Antonelli is under the "magnifying glass" as Toto Wolff revealed amid his struggles at Mercedes

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli after the qualifying for the F1 Grand Prix of the Netherlands - Source: Getty

Kimi Antonelli's Mercedes rookie season has not gone his way. The teenager started with an impressive fourth-place finish at a chaotic Australian Grand Prix. Moreover, he continued posting consistent performances, with his result peaking at the Canadian GP, where he claimed his maiden podium. But his results soon hit a dip.

After Canada, he scored a solitary point in the following four race weekends. Though he moved up the order at the Dutch GP for a potential points finish on his hands, his incident with Leclerc soon took away the opportunity.

Admitting that Kimi Antonelli was thrown into the deep end early in his F1 career, Mercedes' supremo Toto Wolff said (via Autosport):

"I think we have put Kimi under maximum pressure, to be honest. Looking at it now, I felt it was a great idea to have him in FP1 in Monza and present him there - that was maybe a mistake. Not because he wasn't capable of driving the car, but because if he would have finished that lap without crashing it would have been sensational and it would have built the confidence and that's why."

"He's in a Mercedes, he's very visible, his results are very visible, his team-mate is great and he's maximising the car - and therefore you know he feels himself under the magnifying glass."

Antonelli finished 16th in the classification for the Dutch GP, a dismal result in comparison to his teammate's P4 at the same race.