Charles Leclerc reacts to Kimi Antonelli ending his F1 Dutch GP podium hopes with a race ending collision

Charles Leclerc has bluntly put down his race-ending collision on Kimi Antonelli, as the driver potentially lost out on a podium in Zandvoort. The Ferrari had proven to be one of the star attractions of the F1 Dutch GP until the moment the Mercedes driver collided with him and ended his race.

The 2025 F1 Dutch GP saw Charles Leclerc start his race from P6. At the start, he pulled off a stunning move on George Russell to jump up to P5 behind Isack Hadjar. The Ferrari driver would then trigger the undercut that would have essentially helped him jump Hadjar and potentially challenge Max Verstappen in a battle for the podium.

All of that, however, went away when his teammate Lewis Hamilton's crash brought out the safety car and compromised Charles Leclerc's race. After the restart, Leclerc once again pulled off a brilliant move on George Russell to jump up to P5.

It was at this point that Mercedes triggered the undercut with Kimi Antonelli, who was right behind Charles Leclerc in the battle for the podium. When Ferrari responded, Leclerc would come out of the pits just ahead of the rookie. Unfortunately for both, Kimi went for an impetuous move in the banking zone, wiping out the Monegasque driver.

Talking about his race that ended with the collision, Charles Leclerc placed the blame flatly on Kimi Antonelli as he told Motorsport,

“It’s a mistake from Kimi. You've got to be very aggressive on a track like this to overtake…maybe it was a bit too much. He went on to touch my rear left and that was the end of my race. So it's disappointing."

He added,

“The tyres weren't too bad, however I think the out-lap of Kimi was probably very strong. So I think the team decided to pit me because they thought that he would probably get past us again."

Charles Leclerc not too interested in talking about strategy as Kimi Antonelli clash ended his race

As soon as the race ended for Charles Leclerc, the driver was quite angry on the team radio as he hinted that the strategy put the team in this position. The driver wasn't willing to be dragged into those conversations again, as he felt that in the end, the race got compromised by Kimi Antonelli's mistake. He said,

"At the end, I was frustrated for what had just happened, but I don't think the strategy is the big talking point today. I think it's just Kimi's mistake that threw out every effort we had in the bin."

He added,

“Only by finishing the race we would have known whether it was a good choice or not. We didn't because of the crash with Kimi, so it's a bit difficult to know.”

Charles Leclerc now moves on to Ferrari's home race in Monza, where the driver has often been quite special. He has won two races already and was the winner last time around as well. With Ferrari expected to have a better form around the track, the driver would be hoping for a better run than what he had at Zandvoort.