Kimi Antonelli heroics hands Mercedes star FIA penalty at British Grand Prix

Photo: © IMAGO

British Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli heroics hands Mercedes star FIA penalty at British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix was a thrilling affair

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 5 July 2026 20:27

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Mercedes' championship leader Kimi Antonelli left the F1 British Grand Prix without a single point, after an unusual incident which still saw him able to finish the race.

Antonelli was running up in second when he first started reporting issues with his car, chasing down Charles Leclerc for the race victory.

The team pitted the young Italian and put a new front wing on his car, but the issues continued and he was dropping further and further back.

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They then thought that it may have been a wheel shield failure, but Antonelli told the team that the suspension was broken. Mercedes pitted him again to remove the broken wheel shield but this still didn't seem to fix the issue.

Antonelli carried on going, and heroically told Peter Bonnington on team radio that he was going to try and finish the race so that he could hopefully still claim one world championship point, running down in 10th following his various pit stops.

The 19-year-old was still producing some half decent lap times, and looked like he may be able to stay ahead of Alpine's Franco Colapinto, who was running in 11th.

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FIA penalty ruins Antonelli's point chase

But Antonelli was struggling to keep his Mercedes on track, running wide at several corners with the car's suspension clearly not in the best of shape.

That meant that he was getting dangerously close to six track limits infringements, enough for a penalty.

Then the message came through from Bonnington that he had indeed exceeded track limits once again, handing him a five-second penalty that would likely take him out of the points.

"That's a joke," Antonelli fumed on team radio. "I didn't do it on purpose. The car was broken, I wasn't even gaining time!"

To rub salt into the wounds of Antonelli, a late Max Verstappen crash caused a safety car. This, of course, bunched the field up, meaning Antonelli's five-second penalty was even more impactful on his result.

The championship leader dropped down to 16th because of the penalty, and his gap has now been cut to just 25 points to his team-mate George Russell, who finished the British GP in second.

Sky Sports F1 legend Martin Brundle said on the live broadcast about Antonelli's track limits penalty: "Track limits are a performance penalty not a survival penalty."

RESULTS: Verstappen crash costs Hamilton in dramatic finish

F1 Mercedes Kimi Antonelli British Grand Prix