“He ruined the race for me”, Hadjar furious with Antonelli after the Formula 1 Chinese GP Sprint

Contact between Kimi and Isack

Here is the incident which resulted in a 10-second time penalty for Antonelli #F1Sprint #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/SG24tCRkCm

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 14, 2026

The Mercedes driver was in fact the protagonist of a horror start in the short race in Shanghai, coming into contact with the Frenchman’s Racing Bulls. Hadjar’s car was in fact rammed and damaged by Antonelli, ending his race almost immediately. The anger of the driver from the Red Bull satellite team manifested itself immediately in the pits, when Antonelli went to apologise.

Kimi and Isack in parc ferme after contact in the Sprint #F1Sprint #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/fTtyXC50Q6

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 14, 2026

The young Italian, penalized 10 seconds, served in the pits under the safety car regime, and finished fifth at the finish line, approached Hadjar and reached out his hand into the cockpit, but the Frenchman did not accept the apologies, pushing his ‘colleague’ away with a rather nervous gesture. “The turbo wasn’t ready at the start and I risked stalling”, said Antonelli immediately, “the contact with Hadjar is my fault”.

The Racing Bulls driver was furious: “Antonelli ruined my race”, he told Canal+, “I don’t know why he’s so overexcited, he has a car that’s a missile”.