‘I gave everything’ says Antonelli after British Grand Prix damage

Mercedes’ championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, says he gave it everything after the Italian was demoted out of the points at the British Grand Prix following damage to his car.

Feature image credit: Mercedes F1

The British GP did not go according to plan for the young Italian star, who was on for a sure victory around Silverstone, after the championship leader suffered damage to his championship-leading car late on in the race.

Antonelli had pitted later than everyone else, stopping on lap 35, and with 10-lap-younger tyres, the 19-year-old was on a charge after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for the race lead – and likely win.

However, the Mercedes ran over the exit kerb at Copse, Turn 9, damaging its wheel shield. The Italian delved into the pits in a bid to find a solution to the problem. However, the Mercedes driver lost pace and exceeded track limits, prompting a five-second time penalty.

“The damage happened very suddenly. I was taking the same kerb every lap, but on that particular lap I ran it and immediately lost front downforce,” said Antonelli. “The car wasn’t driving straight anymore and the pace dropped away. I knew part of the wheel shield had broken, but there seemed to be more going on than we could see at that moment. We will analyse everything and understand exactly what happened.

“Despite all the setbacks, I kept pushing and trying to maximise every opportunity. That’s always my mindset. Even when it felt like everything was going against us, I was still fighting to grab that one point before the Safety Car changed things. I know I gave everything I had and we will come back stronger.”

Red Bull point to rear-wing issue for Verstappen’s British GP crash

Due to the late safety car staying out until the end of the race, after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen spun out at Stowe and retired, the Italian plummeted out of the points when the chequered flag dropped, finishing 15th overall.

However, Mercedes praised the Italian’s ability to try and pick up points, despite the late safety car making that point null and void.

Their team principal, Toto Wolff, has said the team will ‘reset and recalibrate,’ getting on top of their reliability woes. He said:

“[Antonelli] showed great pace and would have been a strong contender for victory before the wheel shield failure. We weren’t 100% clear what the damage was and once we worked it out, we thought that was his race done. He did well to maintain P10 on track but the Safety Car, as he still had to serve a five-second time penalty, went against him.

“We will now reset and recalibrate before heading to Spa and Hungary for the final double-header before the summer break. We are in a strong position in both championships but know we can’t afford to continue suffering from these reliability issues. That is something that all of us are working hard to get on top of and improve.”

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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.