Jacques Villeneuve doubles down on Kimi Antonelli criticism: “Maybe F1 is just too much for him”

Jacques Villeneuve has heavily criticised Mercedes’ rookie driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli after he received two penalties during the 2025 Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix. 

The Italian driver was first handed a 10-second penalty for crashing into Charles Leclerc, sending the Ferrari into a spin against the barriers and ending his race. Antonelli managed to nurse the W16 back to the pits to continue his race. However, he was then found to have exceeded the speed limit in the pitlane and was handed another five-second penalty.

“Car 12 [Antonelli] was attempting an overtake on the inside of Car 16 [Leclerc] at Turn 3 and understeered into the side of Car 16. This resulted in significant damage to Car 16 and its retirement,” the stewards noted on the crash. “It is clear that Car 12 was wholly and predominantly to blame for the collision. We accordingly imposed a 10 second time penalty on Car 12.”

Villeneuve did not hold back in his assessment of the driver.

“Very poor. A move that you might see in Formula 4, Formula 3, from a driver who doesn’t have experience and just not calculated the way it should be,” he explained to Sky Sports F1.
 
“When you’re in F1, you’ll make mistakes, you drive too hard, you’re on the limit, but that was not even that. It was just badly calculated. He shouldn’t have done that. And then he got all riled up and [exceeded the] speed limit as well. Maybe F1 is just too much for him.”

When questioned on his remarks, given Antonelli has just turned 19, Villeneuve promptly responded, “No, he’s in Formula 1. What age was Max when he arrived in F1? What age was Lewis when he arrived? Exactly. So that’s not a good excuse.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Photo by: Joe Portlock / LAT Images via Getty Images

He added: “Look how far behind he was before the corner. He was two car lengths behind. On which planet did he think it would stick, that it would work out? Everyone knows that when you go down to the inside like this, that track doesn’t work. 

“So you really need to be next to the other driver, like Max. He was right up the gear on the outside and barely made it stick.
 
“So it was just poor, poor calculation from his spot. And he should be better than that in F1.”

This comes after Villeneuve’s scathing comments about Antonelli following qualifying at Zandvoort, when he called the Italian driver out for not progressing and that drivers should “arrive in F1 ready.”

Photos from Dutch GP – Race