Toto Wolff discloses reaction to Kimi Antonelli after Max Verstappen crash

Toto Wolff has revealed what he said to Kimi Antonelli after the Italian driver collided with Max Verstappen on the opening lap of the Austrian Grand Prix.

Heading into the third corner at the Red Bull Ring, the 18-year-old appeared to misjudge the braking zone, needing to take evasive action to avoid ploughing into the back of Liam Lawson.

Unfortunately, as he locked up, he was powerless to prevent his Mercedes careering into the New Zealander - and Verstappen, at Red Bull's home race.

Whilst the Racing Bulls driver was able to continue, ultimately finishing sixth, Antonelli and Verstappen sustained grand prix-ending damage to their cars.

It was seemingly the first egregious error of the Mercedes driver's fledgling F1 tenure, but following the race, he explained his rear wheels locked after he did not change the brake settings on his W16 heading into Turn 3.

When asked for his view on the incident, Wolff highlighted that the Brackley squad needed to investigate to understand what had happened, providing a level of cover for his driver.

"These mistakes happen," the Austrian told media, including RacingNews365. "The rears locked on the car. I'm not entirely sure it was his fault or a system.

"I haven't seen any data, nor did I hear anything, because obviously we were concentrating on the race, but that happens.

"It's unfortunate, unfortunate for Max and Red Bull that Kimi hit him, but that's racing."

'Well, that wasn't great'...

Antonelli immediately took responsibility for the accident, apologising to Max Verstappen after they climbed out of their cars. 

In turn, the Dutchman shared what he said to his peer after the crash, whilst also graciously acknowledging that every driver experiences a similar moment in their career - and that Antonelli will learn from the event.

With the persistent rumours linking Verstappen to Mercedes, there was keen interest in how Wolff would handle the situation.

The team principal detailed his first words to the one-time podium finisher, and defended his driver by highlighting how the championship's best have made similar misjudgements.

"Yeah, he came into the garage quickly, and I said, 'Well, that wasn't great,' which he obviously knew," the 53-year-old said.

"But yeah, he said the tyres just locked - and we need to analyse it. There's [no] margin for error in our business. It's a shame that Max... or that we took another car out with us.

"But that can happen. It's happened to the great ones, happened to the inexperienced ones and the experienced ones. It's just part of Formula 1."

Antonelli was deemed at fault by the FIA stewards in Spielberg and will take a three-place grid penalty into the British Grand Prix. He also received two penalty points on his super licence.