Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s growing desperation to get a strong result in his Mercedes was clear from his lunge at Charles Leclerc, which took the Ferrari driver out of the race.
But Mercedes’ rookie driver showed he was feeling the urge to make up places early in the race as he struggled to put a move on Alexander Albon. He even apologised to his race engineer Peter Bonnington after failing to clear the Williams after lining up what looked like a slam-dunk pass in the DRS zone on the pit straight.
Antonelli left himself with a lot to do after missing the cut for Q3 for the third round in a row and lining up 11th. Yuki Tsunoda passed him on soft tyres at the start and Antonelli couldn’t regain his starting position until the Red Bull driver made for the pits.
He was five seconds behind Albon by this point and gained little on the Williams over the next four laps. But then the Safety Car was deployed, erasing the gap between them.
Once the Safety Car came in on lap 26, Antonelli and Albon passed Carlos Sainz Jnr and Liam Lawson as they tangled. Then Antonelli set about trying to pass the Williams:
| Lap: 26/72 ANT: 1’50.183 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | How many laps to go? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | There’s still 46 remaining, so a long way to go. Recovery vehicle on track at turn three now. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 27/72 ANT: 1’17.283 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Ocon is yet to stop, he’s on 26-lap-old tyres. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | P8, Albon car ahead, 1.1 seconds. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 28/72 ANT: 1’14.965 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | DRS has been enabled, 45 laps remaining. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Nearly within DRS distance of Albon. Rain threat has diminished now to zero. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | 0.8 ahead, 2.1 behind. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Think about coming up on that strat mode when you can. We have Sainz ahead as traffic, so that’s the car ahead of Albon, Sainz is traffic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 29/72 ANT: 1’15.413 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Also, Lawson traffic, that’s the car ahead of Albon, Lawson traffic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Gap 0.5 ahead. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bonnington advised Antonelli to hold his overtake boost button as he closed on Albon coming out of the final corner. He got down the inside of the Williams and appeared set to claim the position – but Albon clung on around the outside and stayed ahead.
Antonelli apologised to Bonnington for failing to get by, then did so again when the race was briefly neutralised by a Virtual Safety Car period. Bonnington reassured his young driver:
| Lap: 30/72 ANT: 1’15.011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Kimi, we’ve got decent energy, so press-and-hold isn’t as penalising. Gap 0.5 ahead. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 31/72 ANT: 1’28.013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | He tries to pass Albon at Tarzan but fails Ah, fuck, sorry. |
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| Bonnington | So VSC, VSC. So keep the delta positive, staying out. Strat mode one, stay on your delta. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Ah sorry about that Bono. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So stay to the left at debris, middle of the straight. Nah don’t sweat it Kimi, I reckon we’ll get another chance. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Stay on-line, so stay to the left. Just get onto your delta. That debris’ just being cleared. So strat mode five, VSC ending. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 33/72 ANT: 1’15.002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Check the floor, might have debris. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Copy, we’ll have a look. Everything looks okay with the aero at the moment, so let’s not sweat it. Now 1.4 ahead. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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After the race restarted Antonelli attacked again and this time he got the job done:
| Bonnington | 0.5 ahead, remember that press-and-hold. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 34/72 ANT: 1’15.148 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Antonelli passes Albon at Tarzan Nice work, Kimi. That’s George ahead, 1.6. |
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Mercedes wasted no time in swapping the order of their cars as Antonelli’s team mate George Russell had suffered damage to his car following contact with Leclerc:
| Lap: 39/72 ANT: 1’15.287 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | And Kimi, we have strat 11 available for a bit more performance. Kimi, let us know if you’d have more pace in free air. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 40/72 ANT: 1’15.073 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Yeah, I do. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Okay Kimi, so with George’s damage we’re going to invert the cars into turn one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Stand by on that switch, just waiting for confirmation from George. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 41/72 ANT: 1’14.946 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Russell lets Antonelli past approaching Scheivlak Okay Kimi so let’s see what the pace is. |
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| Lap: 43/72 ANT: 1’14.791 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Do you want me to manage more? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Just keep the same, don’t overdo it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mercedes chose to attack Leclerc by bringing Antonelli in for an early pit stop. They made the call at the last possible moment to avoid giving Ferrari any time to react, calling Antonelli in as he rounded the final corner.
Leclerc told Ferrari he didn’t want to react to Antonelli’s pit stop but his team summoned him in anyway. Antonelli delivered a fast out-lap but it wasn’t enough for him to jump ahead of Leclerc.
The Ferrari emerged from the pits just ahead of Antonelli, however, and the Mercedes driver dived down the inside at the Hugenholzbocht. But the pair made contact, Antonelli sending Leclerc into the barriers and out of the race. He apologised again.
| Lap: 51/72 ANT: 1’17.187 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Box opposite Leclerc, box offset Leclerc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 52/72 ANT: 1’29.067 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So this is out-lap critical, we’ll go strat mode nine. Lawson with you, he’ll have blue flags. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Leclerc in pit lane now, it will be tight. Leclerc emerges in front of Antonelli, who tries to pass him in Hugenholzbocht, but makes contact |
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| Lap: 53/72 ANT: 1’45.159 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Safety Car, keep delta positive. Okay, report any contact. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Yeah, I got a puncture. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | So box, box. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 54/72 ANT: 1’58.475 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | You’ll have Gasly with you on exit. So just staying on that delta. Stay middle of the track at turn three. Got marshals both sides. So you now push to catch the Safety Car, you have double yellow turn three, marshals on track. Lawson car ahead is a lapped car, for info. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 55/72 ANT: 1’29.701 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Ah, sorry mate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Just check your diff high speed, it’s in error. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The stewards handed Antonelli two penalties: one for the Leclerc collision and another for speeding when he came into the pits. That ended his chances of a top 10 finish and he came away point-less for the seventh time in nine rounds.
| Lap: 56/72 ANT: 2’03.041 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | How much damage do I have? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | We think there’s some damage around the bib area, five points, maybe 10. Kimi, we’ve been given a 10-second time penalty. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lap: 62/72 ANT: 1’13.916 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | Kimi to add insult to injury we have a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane. So let’s just get our heads down, make as much progress as possible. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chequered flag | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Antonelli | Yeah, sorry about that, and sorry to Charles as well. I tried. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bonnington | That’s all we ask, Kimi. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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