Lewis Hamilton has explained the reasons behind his Formula 1 British Grand Prix Sprint Race loss to Kimi Antonelli after a Titanic battle for the lead.
Hamilton initially led away at the start of Saturday’s Sprint at Silverstone, forced to defend hard as Antonelli pushed to take the lead.
The battle lasted until the midpoint of the Sprint, when Antonelli surged past, breaking the hearts of the capacity crowds.
Although Hamilton tried to stay in touch with the young Italian, Antonelli pulled away, finishing 3.5 seconds clear of the seven-time world champion to take a convincing victory.
The result marks Antonelli’s latest statement performance in a run of form that has seen him extend his championship lead to 43 points, continuing to demonstrate he can go wheel-to-wheel with the sport’s most decorated names without wilting under pressure.
For Hamilton, meanwhile, it was another reminder of the gap Ferrari still need to close if they are to fight consistently at the front.
Hamilton revealed he had pushed hard to keep Antonelli behind, acknowledging that Ferrari had work to do in order to “close the gap” to Mercedes.
“Yeah, big thank you for everyone that’s here, the crowd is amazing here,” he said.
“And also, this is like the most energy I’ve seen in a pit lane before. Yeah, tough, tough, tough race to keep the Mercedes behind.
“I did say that was potentially the case yesterday, and obviously, with it being so windy today, big, big headwind down the back straight, I mean, it came flying fast. I mean, I was pushing as hard as I could, I gave absolutely everything, but well done to Kimi, and yeah, we’ve got work to do to try and close that gap so we can keep up.”
Lewis Hamilton explains Mercedes pace advantage
Hamilton then explained where his Ferrari was losing time to the Mercedes, highlighting challenges at Stowe, and the managing of Overtake mode by the young Italian.
“They’re particularly quick up to turn six, and so I had to sometimes use the boost there,” he said.
“One of the biggest places is when you come out of Stowe, Turn 15, you get on power, and there’s no power, and that’s when he was catching me massively.
“Then, getting into the overtake mode, and once he got the overtake mode, I couldn’t hold him back after that because he had extra deployment through the lap, and I couldn’t break that one-second barrier then.
“So as soon as that was lost, I knew he was coming.”
Hamilton’s honest assessment of the deficit will offer little comfort to Ferrari ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix, though the Scuderia will hope cooler conditions and a different strategic window can offer a route back into contention at a circuit where straight-line speed and rear traction out of the final sector look set to be decisive once again.
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