Kimi Antonelli “annoyed” by Oscar Piastri’s F1 Miami sprint first corner block

Miami Grand Prix sprint pole-winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli was left irritated by Oscar Piastri’s move on him at the opening corner of the Saturday race – and was disappointed that the Australian was not penalised.

Piastri grabbed a slightly better getaway off the line in a damp start to the shorter race, leaving Antonelli to try to hang onto the lead around the outside of the first corner.

However, the Mercedes rookie found his path into Turn 1 blocked by Piastri’s McLaren, leaving Antonelli to take to the run-off. He therefore ceded two further places to Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, and revealed his frustrations over the radio that he felt he was pushed off the road by Piastri.

The stewards deemed that Piastri had the right to the corner and did not take any further action, to which Antonelli sarcastically remarked “good to know”.

“It was a great opportunity; I’m a bit annoyed about lap one with how it went,” Antonelli told Sky following the sprint race.

“It seems like it’s like this, that you can do basically whatever you want, so it’s good to know for the future. 

“Definitely it’s a shame, but luckily we have a qualifying to bounce back.”

Lando Norris, McLaren, Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

Antonelli’s boss Toto Wolff felt that the current driving guidelines – which prioritise a driver on the inside being ahead at the apex – are not “setting good precedents” and that it enfranchised drivers to simply come off the brakes and leave no room.

Wolff added that Antonelli had perhaps wised up to the nature of F1 in his first-corner exchange with Piastri, although felt it shouldn’t have happened.

“I don’t think we are setting good precedents,” Wolff told Sky. “You’re just releasing the brake and then you push the other guy off. 

“And for the junior formulas also, I think you need to leave a car space, but it’s kind of creeped in: Turn 1, push them out. 

“And it’s Kimi’s sixth race or whatever it is, and now he’s learned the lesson that this is what you need to do. So I’m not entirely agreeing with that, but maybe that’s how we’ve allowed it for a few years now.”

Photos from Miami GP – Sprint