Antonelli aborts Austrian GP lap after misreading yellow flag, costing him front-row start

Kimi Antonelli will start the Austrian Grand Prix from fourth on the grid after misreading a yellow flag in the closing moments of Q3 at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday, a mistake the 18-year-old Mercedes driver openly acknowledged after qualifying.

Chaos broke out in the final seconds of the session when Max Verstappen lost control of his Red Bull, triggering local yellow flags. Antonelli, running directly behind Verstappen, aborted his lap entirely — believing the warning to be a double yellow, which requires drivers to be prepared to stop. In fact, it was a single yellow, which demands only a reduction in speed.

“I don’t know why, but I thought it was a double yellow, so I aborted completely and missed the front row,” Antonelli said after qualifying. “I shouldn’t have done that. That was my mistake.”

Team-mate George Russell made the opposite call, lifting just enough to satisfy the regulations and banking the lap that secured pole position. Russell will be joined on the front row by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, while Lewis Hamilton lines up third and Antonelli fourth.

Former Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok offered context for why the two Mercedes drivers responded so differently to the same flag. “This is perhaps George knowing the rules and that you have to have the diagonal double yellow. He also had a bit more time to react,” Chandhok said, referencing the visual distinction between the two flag types.

Chandhok added that Antonelli’s position on track made the error understandable, if still costly. “When he came up to that yellow flag, he was the car behind Max Verstappen. He didn’t have much time to see it, and in a high-speed corner your eyeline is to the right, looking at the apex. I am sure he is disappointed, but he shouldn’t beat himself up too much.”

The incident highlights the fine margins that separate experience from instinct at the top level of the sport. For Antonelli, in only his debut Formula 1 season, the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying session offered both a glimpse of genuine pace and a sharp lesson in the detail that defines the difference between the front row and the second.