After a very strong European leg of the Formula 1 season – which was actually an Achilles’ heel last year – Kimi Antonelli made a rare mistake during qualifying in Baku.

The championship leader hit the inside wall at Turn 1 during his second Q1 push lap, bringing his qualifying session to an early end and leaving him to start Saturday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix from 16th on the grid.

Antonelli was particularly angry with himself afterwards and said he had been surprised by the changing track conditions, especially by how much front-end he had when turning in on that run.

Nevertheless, there appears to be no reason to panic just yet. With an 81-point lead over his closest championship rival, the margin is comfortable and, moreover, Mercedes is so quick in Baku that the young Italian should still be able to secure a more than solid points finish.

Verstappen shares that view and stresses that moments like the one on Friday are all part of the learning process for a young driver, something he believes fans should not forget.

“Something like that can happen. Obviously this sucks for him, but he is still very young,” Verstappen said when asked about Antonelli’s crash by Motorsport.com.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Michael Potts / LAT images via Getty Images

“Maybe people forget that sometimes, also in the way they talk about him this season. But this is a learning moment and it’s simply part of the process.”

Although the margin over George Russell is still substantial, Verstappen does say that such mistakes should not happen too often, not least to avoid giving his Mercedes team-mate renewed hope in the title fight.

“You can’t afford to do it too often, of course, but with his speed I think it will all be fine. But it’s obviously still frustrating. He will be the most frustrated about it himself, but Kimi still has every opportunity to score very good points on Saturday.”

Verstappen is not the only one expecting Antonelli to storm through the field, with Russell also anticipating a comeback drive. When the Briton was asked on Friday about a potential comeback drive from Antonelli, Russell jokingly referred to Antonelli’s sensational victory at Monza from 19th on the grid: “You can’t discount Kimi. He started 19th in Monza and now he’s in 16th, so he should be leading by a few laps earlier this time!”

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  Formula 1Max Verstappen reveals what really went wrong for Red Bull in Baku F1 qualifying

- The Motorsport.com Team