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Martin Brundle saw Kimi Antonelli dealing with a neck problem in the closing stages of the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Antonelli successfully hunted down Mercedes teammate George Russell for second place but slowed on track shortly after completing the overtake.
With only a few laps remaining, the championship leader pulled over and retired after an electrical shutdown. Lewis Hamilton’s victory means his lead at the top of the standings is cut to 41 points.
Your championship standings after the Barcelona GP. How worried should Kimi Antonelli be about Lewis Hamilton?
Martin Brundle: Kimi Antonelli must have felt ‘pathetic’ as neck gave up
When the world feed broadcast cut to Antonelli’s onboard footage during his pursuit of Russell, Sky Sports pundit Brundle noticed that his neck was ‘gone’. He was visibly resting it on the side of the cockpit through the right turns, even the slower, less demanding bends.
The 19-year-old was competing in just his 31st F1 race, and the Barcelona layout features extended high-speed corners like T3 and T12.
“Antonelli’s neck is going, look,” he said (14/06, 15:20). “Watch him through turn three, rest his head on the left side of the headrest there. His neck’s gone. If you watch him through the slower corners, even in turn four… He’s struggling now, with his neck.
“That’s the most pathetic feeling when you can’t keep your head up where you want it to be when you turn the steering wheel and load up the G-force. It won’t happen on the left-handers because it’s not a problem on the left-handers. There’s not enough of them around here.”
Did the Barcelona GP earn a perfect 10/10, or was there more you wanted to see?
Asked if the other drivers would be having similar problems late in the race, Brundle said: “Lewis Hamilton’s head looks pretty much in the centre of the car.”
And his Sky colleague Karun Chandhok supported that assessment: “I had a look at the onboard. He might be 41 years old, but he’s keeping his head upright. Those neck muscles have done a lot of work in the last 20 years.”
Speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, journalist Tom Clarkson revealed that Antonelli was feeling under the weather, which may explain why he found the 29-degree race so punishing.
“Antonelli was pretty ill this weekend,” said Clarkson. “Too much jumping in the harbour after the win in Monaco, too much partying in the palace! I don’t know what the reason is, but he was actually really ill. He had a proper cold going on.”
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