Antonelli ‘pleased’ for Hamilton after ‘disappointing’ Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix

Mercedes’ championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, has praised Lewis Hamilton’s first win for Ferrari, despite being disappointed with his own result, which saw him retire from the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Feature image credit: Mercedes F1

Antonelli endured a painful end to his Barcelona race as the Italian driver was forced to pull off to the side of the circuit after reliability woes kicked in the race for the championship leader.

After Hamilton secured his first grand prix win in red, it means that Antonelli’s strong advantage in the drivers’ standings has been slashed from 66 points to 41.

Despite a premature end to his race, the 19-year-old still congratulated the seven-time world champion on his first milestone with the Maranello-based team. He said:

“Congratulations to Lewis on his victory today. He is a great driver and has been so much help in my career so far. I am pleased to see him up there once again as he really deserves it.

“I think we had the pace today to challenge him for the win, but the Virtual Safety Car came out at a bad time for us, and we didn’t get to see how things would have played out.”

Brilliance In Barcelona: Hamilton Secures Maiden Victory With Ferrari!

Antonelli found himself in the late stages battling out for a better podium position, as the two Mercedes locked into a wheel-to-wheel battle, unable to answer Hamilton’s incredibly strong pace.

The Italian swooped down the inside into turn one, on lap 61, and claimed P2 from Russell mid-corner. However, only five corners later, Antonelli’s car broke down with a power unit problem.

The issue was reminiscent of Russell’s retirement in Canada, who retired with his own power unit problem when he was leading. Despite this, he believes the team will be able to bounce back in Austria in two weeks.

“It is very disappointing to retire from P2, but these things can happen in racing,” Antonelli said. “George suffered an issue in Canada and now it’s happened to me; we know our reliability is something we need to work on and I am sure the team will be pushing incredibly hard to improve that.

“It’s more important points that we’ve lost, but we must remember that it is the first year of these new regulations and we are all learning quickly.”

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Brilliance In Barcelona: Hamilton Secures Maiden Victory With Ferrari!
• Leclerc hoping to bounce back ‘stronger’ in Austria after Barcelona GP
• Lewis Hamilton takes maiden Ferrari grand prix win at Barcelona-Catalunya
• Russell takes Barcelona-Catalunya GP pole by 0.064s over Hamilton
• Antonelli reprimanded for FP3 erractic driving at Barcelona-Catalunya GP
• Why are McLaren and Red Bull looking to appeal FIA Decision?
• Mercedes ‘assessing’ after Gasly Monaco P3 is reinstated

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.