Kimi Antonelli data reveals if British GP victory was stolen from his grasp
How big a chance was missed for Kimi Antonelli at Silverstone?
For the second time in three races, Kimi Antonelli ends his fight for a Grand Prix victory early due to a technical failure on the Mercedes car.
Both times, the Ferrari drivers took advantage of this in the best possible way – whether Antonelli had the victory in his hands, we discover with the help of telemetry data.
Kimi Antonelli without luck on his side at the British Grand Prix
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust
Antonelli did absolutely everything he could during the British Grand Prix. Despite starting from P2, he won the Sprint race without difficulties and, a few hours later, was the fastest in qualifying, securing himself pole position for Sunday’s race.
He was faster than George Russell the entire time and, after Austria, definitely brought the momentum back to his side when it comes to the internal team battle.
The Italian made his first mistake right at the start of the main race – a poorer start cost him two positions to both Ferrari drivers. However, just like during the sprint, Kimi remained patient, knowing that the race pace was on his side.
After overtaking Hamilton on the straight before Copse on lap 11, his only remaining rival for the win was Leclerc, who had by then built up a more noticeable advantage having clean air ahead of him.
The graph below displays Antonelli’s speed during the overtake on Hamilton and shows us just how large the speed difference actually was – energy deployment at Silverstone made overtaking look extremely easy and effortless.
Once he cleared Lewis, Kimi continued to drive an incredible stint. In the following laps, he was faster than Leclerc, which forced the Monegasque to go for a pit stop.
However, the pace Kimi managed to extract on the medium tyres in such a long stint is truly incredible, with a constant improvement in lap times. On the graph below, we can see how small the difference in lap times was compared to Leclerc on new tyres.
Such a first stint allowed Kimi, after switching to the C1 hard tyres, to be only 7.7 seconds behind Leclerc. And that is when Antonelli’s pursuit for the victory begins.
Just look at the difference in pace Kimi managed to make by switching to fresh rubber.
In the next four laps, the Mercedes driver was making up an average of 0.85 seconds per lap. Right up until lap 42 when a technical problem occurs on the car due to the failure of the front-left wheel cover.
Although this excluded the Italian from the fight, what it showed us is that Kimi is a driver who never wants to give up and wants to stay on track at all costs even to fight for a single potential point.
Further analysis of the British Grand Prix
British GP conclusions: Leclerc’s Hamilton answer, no Russell fear, in defence of FIA
British GP 2026 driver ratings: Hamilton penalty, Verstappen crash, Leclerc’s luck
Unfortunately, Mercedes didn’t notice the wheel cover problem right away, so Kimi had to pit twice. During a few laps of chaos at the end of the race, in which he managed to record a somewhat competent time, we can see how much he was actually struggling on track.
Definitely the biggest problem was Copse and the fast S-curves of Maggotts and Becketts, where he was unable to rotate the car quickly enough. A large difference in speed is obvious here, as well as later through Stowe. Going through Stowe further compromised his straight-line speed, where the Italian lost additional time.
In the end, a five-second penalty cost Antonelli an extra point and the P10 position he was fighting for.
So, did Kimi lose the victory?
If we look at the pace with which he was reducing the gap to Leclerc, we can conclude that he would have caught him in just three laps, meaning around lap 45 of the race. With the aforementioned advantage of over eight tenths, the chances that Leclerc would defend himself on 10-lap-old tyres are practically zero.
Therefore, yes, Kimi lost a clean 25 points due to a technical error on the Mercedes. A total of 43 points if we include Austria.
On the other hand, the Safety Car due to Verstappen going off the track brought luck to George Russell, who ultimately finished in P2, even though his realistic position was P5.
However, that is part of this sport, and it seems that right now, the Mercedes drivers are paying the price for their incredible speed with poor car reliability. Kimi is still first in the standings with a gap of now 25 points – a difference that has entered the zone of a single race’s worth of a points advantage.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
Read next: Max Verstappen British GP crash explained by telemetry data
