Kimi Antonelli apology to Isack Hadjar after Chinese GP sprint contact rejected in awkward video

March 14, 2026

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli approached Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar after the Chinese sprint race to apologise for causing a collision between the two, but footage shared by Formula 1 showed that it fell on deaf ears.

As the Mercedes driver approached Hadjar, the French-Algerian driver signalled for him to move on and brushed off the apology before getting out of the car.

At the time of writing, the video had accumulated 1.1 million views and was met with mixed reactions from fans.

“It’s racing Isack, you are bound to turn into someone one day too. Just accept the apology and move on,” one fan commented, while another added: “Valid from Isack btw, he has to prove himself every single second in that second RB seat while Kimi gets all the love from Toto and gets away with the rookie card easily, forgetting both of them are, but in different circumstances.”

“Yeah, Isack was pissed at Kimi. Kimi just needs to be more careful. He has cost Red Bull too much already,” another fan wrote, and someone else said: “Acting like he’s in a place above Kimi and has 10 race wins under his belt. Racing etiquette is racing etiquette, but calm it fella.”

Former F1 driver and Sky Sports Germany pundit Ralf Schumacher also commented on the situation, explaining that Hadjar will learn to accept an apology.

“You normally don’t do that, because he’s a hothead and of course he gets frustrated,” the former driver told Sky Sports Germany.

“I think you shouldn’t judge straight away. After 20 laps you can already switch off a little bit. But I mean, well, it’s also his character. You see him walking through the paddock like that.

“He’s a high-performance athlete, someone who is absolutely focused and gives everything for the sport. Therefore, yes, you can say that such a reaction can happen sometimes. But of course he will also learn. And maybe in five years he would have done it differently.”