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Kimi Antonelli’s race-winning overtake on Lewis Hamilton in the British Grand Prix Sprint was hardly a glowing reflection of today’s F1.
Antonelli got ahead of Hamilton on lap eight with a drive-by pass down the Hangar Straight. Such moves aren’t entirely unusual – this used to be a DRS zone under the old regulations – but the difference in speed damaged the spectacle.
Carlos Sainz said the British GP would be entertaining for all the wrong reasons, and that was arguably borne out in a chaotic Sprint with plentiful ‘yo-yo’ racing.
Kimi Antonelli wins the British GP Sprint. Who can stop him winning the Grand Prix?
F1 withheld onboard footage of Kimi Antonelli overtaking Lewis Hamilton
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, the biggest critic of the new rules so far, warned that the Silverstone race could descend into a farce based on his simulator mileage.
“Silverstone, I love the track, but I did a few laps on the simulator, I just started laughing,” he said. “It felt like a different track, to be honest. You barely have battery around the lap. It’s just constantly flat.
“You have long straights but in a fast corner, for example, so you can’t really charge the batteries, and then the next straight you don’t have a lot to spend. It’s going to be a tough one.”
While there’s clearly a strategic element to where drivers and teams deploy and harvest energy, fans want to see battles where the lead driver is able to defend. The debate over the regulations had cooled after a sequence of races at more favourable circuits, but it will be reignited this weekend.
How is energy management affecting the spectacle at Silverstone? 🪫
Indeed, it was telling that the F1’s world feed direction team chose not to show a replay of Antonelli’s overtake. While the chopping-and-changing further down the field meant there were limited pauses in action, it’s traditional to give viewers a second look at a crucial move.
But here there was no alternative angle and no onboard footage. F1 broadcasters disguised superclipping earlier in the season when it was a more prominent issue, so they are clearly keen to paint the product in a favourable light.
Antonelli’s move did the opposite, even if there was an element of smart racecraft in his use of the battery. Showing footage of a powerless Hamilton, or Antonelli looking like he was in another category, would only have given the detractors more ammunition.
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