Kimi Antonelli ‘Empty’ After Late Barcelona GP Retirement Costs Crucial Points

Antonelli left devastated by late Barcelona retirement

Kimi Antonelli admitted he felt “a bit empty” after his Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix unravelled in the closing stages, ending a race in which he had been fighting to protect and extend his advantage in the Formula 1 Drivers’ standings.

Instead, his Mercedes ground to a halt with only a handful of laps remaining. The retirement came at a particularly punishing moment: Antonelli was close to banking a major haul of points, only to see his strong run of form abruptly halted. For more on the wider championship impact of the result, read our report on Hamilton cutting Antonelli’s title lead after Barcelona victory.

Pace offered encouragement despite the result

Antonelli’s frustration was sharpened by the feeling that the performance was there. He conceded the opening stint had not been straightforward, but said his Mercedes came alive later in the race.

“For sure the pace was good today. I struggled a little bit in stint one but stint two and three, I felt like I had quite a lot of pace and of course it’s a shame because it was like three laps from the end, almost there,” he said. “But as I said, races are like this, it’s no one’s fault and now we look forward to the next one.”

Missed chance against Russell — and possibly Hamilton

Antonelli also reflected on the decisive phase of his race against Russell, believing that an earlier move on his teammate could have changed the complexion of the afternoon.

“First of all, I’m very happy for Lewis because he’s been chasing that first win with Ferrari for so long and I’m really happy for him to see him succeed in that,” said Antonelli, who remains 41 points ahead of Hamilton in the standings.

But he added: “I think if I could have made a move in stint two on George, [it] would have been a bit of a different race because, as I said, the pace was very good especially at the end of the stint. I feel like it maybe would have been very close with Lewis with the VSC, so maybe we could have fought but it is what it is.”

Antonelli also accepted responsibility for not maximising qualifying, saying: “Yesterday I didn’t do a good job.” After a week of rest, he now turns to Austria, where the response will matter as much as the setback itself.