Mercedes’s internal data suggests Kimi Antonelli could have won—but instead of a showdown, a mechanical failure and a penalty left him in 16th place
Toto Wolff is convinced that Kimi Antonelli would have had a good chance of winning the British Grand Prix. According to the team’s internal simulations, the Italian would have caught up to the leader, Charles Leclerc, about six laps before the end of the race, before a technical failure ended his comeback.
Antonelli had delayed his pit stop by ten laps longer than Leclerc, giving him a significant tire advantage in the final stages. However, after hitting the curbs too hard coming out of Copse, an aerodynamic component on the left front of his Mercedes broke. As a result, he lost several positions and fell back in the standings.
At one point, Mercedes even considered pulling the car from the race for safety reasons. Antonelli continued driving, however, crossed the finish line in ninth place, and was subsequently penalized with a five-second penalty for multiple violations of track limits. This dropped him to 16th place.
Wolff: “That would have been an epic race finish”
“Yes, that’s tough. That would have been an epic race finish,” Wolff said on F1 TV. “He would have caught up to Charles with six laps to go and had a huge tire advantage. But it’s a mechanical sport. Things like that can happen.”
The Mercedes team principal also suggested that Formula 1 might need to reconsider how it handles penalties for track limit violations. Antonelli had crossed the white lines multiple times after his car had already sustained significant aerodynamic damage.
Wolff questions track limit rules
“At first, we didn’t know exactly what had happened. That’s why we discussed whether we should bring him into the pits for safety reasons,” Wolff explained. “But he fought his way through lap after lap and said, ‘I can do this.’ Then came the penalty for track limits. Maybe we can take a look at how track limits are handled and reassess that. It’s about two points, and those could end up being important.”
After all, Mercedes still managed to secure a strong result at Silverstone. George Russell benefited from both Max Verstappen’s retirement and the late safety car phase, as well as Lewis Hamilton’s extra pit stop. Russell crossed the finish line in second place, earning important points for the drivers’ championship.
The fact that the safety car remained on the track until the checkered flag also played into Russell’s hands. A restart would have left him with virtually no chance of defending second place, given Hamilton’s fresher tires.
Russell Secures Second Place for Mercedes
“We were actually hoping the race would end this way,” says Wolff. “We would have had practically no chance against Lewis with an almost-new soft tire. That’s why I’m very happy for George. He’s been struggling lately to find a good setup for the car. Second place is important for him and a good result for us as well.”
Despite his second race without points this season, Antonelli continues to lead the drivers’ standings with a 25-point lead over his teammate Russell. In the constructors’ standings, Mercedes leads Ferrari by 78 points following the race weekend at Silverstone.
