Lewis Hamilton’s unheard radio explains why he lost F1 Sprint win to Kimi Antonelli

Follow us on Google Discover

Lewis Hamilton lost out to Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli in Saturday’s F1 Sprint race at the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton pipped Antonelli by a hundredth of a second in Sprint qualifying, and they broke free of the pack in the race itself.

The seven-time world champion held the lead until lap eight before Antonelli blasted past on the Hangar Straight, and the Italian held on fairly comfortably after that.

How is energy management affecting the spectacle at Silverstone? 🪫

Comment

Like or Comment

Have your say Sign-in now for free

Lewis Hamilton said he had ‘no power’ to defend against Kimi Antonelli

Speaking in an unbroadcast radio message, Hamilton told Ferrari engineer Carlo Santi: “He’s flying past me, got no power.”

Santi urged Hamilton to ‘stay with him’, but he had no answer. By the chequered flag, Antonelli had stretched his lead to 2.7 seconds.

In his parc ferme interview afterwards, Hamilton explained that the wind also made his life harder by generating a powerful slipstream effect for Antonelli.

“With it being so windy today, [there was] a big, big headwind down the back straight,” he said. “He came flying past. I was pushing as hard as I could, I gave it absolutely everything.”

• READ MORE: Fred Vasseur fires back at Toto Wolff after Mercedes chief’s ‘ironic’ verdict on Ferrari’s spending

Hamilton knew he needed to keep Antonelli more than a second behind, otherwise the energy boost provided by the overtake mode would render him powerless.

“Once he got the overtake mode, I couldn’t hold him back after that because he has extra deployment through the lap,” he explained. “I couldn’t break that one-second barrier.

“As soon as that was lost, I knew he was coming.”

Ferrari are known to be trailing Mercedes in the engine department, particularly when it comes to the battery. That’s why Hamilton’s pole, on one of the most power-sensitive layouts of the year, was so surprising.

In a sense, the status quo was restored by Antonelli’s victory on Saturday, and it remains to be seen whether Ferrari can sustain their challenge into the Grand Prix segment of the weekend.