Andrea Kimi Antonelli was “hurt” by the additional disappointment of receiving a penalty after his Mercedes suffered a loose wheel shield in the latter stages of the British Grand Prix.
The Italian was looking good for his first victory since the Monaco GP at Silverstone, having initially fallen behind eventual winner Charles Leclerc from pole position at the start.
Antonelli’s superior W17 had helped him to victory in the Sprint the day before, and it seemed as if the Silver Arrows’ machine would repeat that in the Grand Prix, as his fresher tyres saw him begin to bear down on the Ferrari driver.
But the wheel shield put paid to any of that, as it broke loose and caused additional issues to the car, forcing him to box for further inspection.
Antonelli rejoined and attempted to drive around the issue, but that ultimately cost him, as he was slapped with a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.
And with the race ending under the Safety Car, it nullified any chance of a damage limitation job of a 10th-place finish, as the penalty sent him tumbling down the classification.
To compound that misery, teammate George Russell picked up second place to reduce Antonelli’s title lead down to just 25 points, with Lewis Hamilton’s third place seeing him close to 32 points.
After the race, Antonelli explained his belief that a “fundamental” problem was an underlying one that caused the wheel shield to loosen.
“I lost, I don’t know how much downforce, the car wouldn’t turn anymore,” Antonelli told media including Motorsport Week.
“In some of the corners, the wheel was in the air, so there was something fundamental that was broken.
“We only know now that the wheel shield broke, but we don’t know if something else broke, because by the loss it feels like it was more than just a wheel shield.
“But then, of course, the team will have more time to analyse it. It was a shame, because we had a shot for the win today.”
‘These are the rules’ – Antonelli accepts penalty after Mercedes issue
Antonelli was visibly upset in the car immediately after the race, aware that his shot at victory had been destroyed, and his once-large title advantage was now a slender one.
But the 19-year-old accepted his penalty, which was an inevitability despite what was a valiant attempt to continue through the W17’s issue.
“These are the rules, so I cannot do anything about it he said. I was trying my best to stay on track, but it was really undrivable,” he said.
“To get a penalty for that, it hurts, but these are the rules, and nothing I can do about it.”
Antonelli will be hopeful of a boost in two weeks at Spa-Francorchamps, where the Mercedes’ superior package could enable a serious shot at victory.
READ MORE – Lewis Hamilton bemoans ‘pretty bad’ British GP
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