In a dramatic turn at the British GP, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli revealed the catastrophic damage his car suffered after a crash with Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar.
The incident, triggered by treacherous rain and near-zero visibility at Silverstone’s Copse corner, saw Hadjar’s car slam into the rear of Antonelli’s Mercedes, ending both drivers’ races in a shower of debris.
The impact obliterated the diffuser on Antonelli’s W16, costing Mercedes approximately 100 points of downforce, as the young Italian explained to the media. “We lost about 100 points of downforce because the entire diffuser was gone,” Antonelli said. “It was incredibly tough to keep the car on track.”
For context, Lewis Hamilton’s car lost roughly 20 points of downforce after hitting a groundhog in Canada, which translated to half a second per lap. Antonelli’s loss equated to a staggering 2.5 seconds per lap, rendering their car undrivable. Mercedes’ race engineer Peter Bonnington instructed Antonelli to retire, marking their fourth DNF in six races.
The crash occurred shortly after a safety car restart, with heavy spray reducing visibility to near nothing. Antonelli, who managed to keep his car on track despite the massive hit, described the moment: “The visibility was extremely poor. I felt the hit coming, but I was lucky to stay on track. It was a huge impact.” He added, “There’s no one to blame. I braked earlier because it was so hard to see the corner, and Isack couldn’t see me.”
Hadjar, equally helpless in the deluge, echoed Antonelli’s sentiments. “I couldn’t see anything in the spray,” Hadjar said, as reported on X. “When I started to regain visibility, I was already in Antonelli’s car.”
He called the restart “quite predictable” given the dangerous conditions, questioning the decision to resume racing. “It was brutal,” Hadjar added, reflecting on the sudden impact shown in onboard footage.
Mercedes’ bold strategy to start on hard tires in wet conditions backfired, compounded by a poorly timed pit stop under a Virtual Safety Car. “We took a gamble on lap one, but it didn’t work,” Antonelli admitted. “When I pitted, the VSC came out, and I couldn’t get temperature into the tires.”
The team’s struggles left Antonelli searching for optimism. “Everything seems to be going wrong right now,” they said. “It’s hard to find positives.”
Racing Bulls faced their own nightmare, with both cars retiring early. Hadjar’s teammate Liam Lawson crashed out on Lap 1, leaving the team pointless. Team principal Laurent Mekies expressed relief that both drivers were unharmed, saying, “The most important thing is that Liam and Isack are okay,” as reported by Speedcafe.
The chaotic race, won by McLaren’s Lando Norris, highlighted the perils of Silverstone’s unpredictable weather.
For Mercedes and Racing Bulls, the British Grand Prix was a stark reminder of Formula 1’s unforgiving nature, leaving both teams to regroup ahead of the next challenge.
