Kimi Antonelli reveals what it took to execute crucial pass on Lewis Hamilton

Kimi Antonelli says he “used everything I had” to make his crucial pass for the lead on Lewis Hamilton in the Silverstone Formula 1 sprint.

The pair played a game of cat and mouse with energy deployment as Antonelli shadowed Hamilton in the early stages, before the Mercedes driver finally got past on lap eight.

Thereafter, with a clear track ahead, he edged away, and Hamilton was not able to respond.

“It was a fun race, it was pretty flat out,” said Antonelli. “I had a good start, but then I couldn't quite get the momentum into Turn 1. I wasn't alongside enough, but then I was able to keep up with Lewis.

“And once I got into that overtake, I started to close the gap more and more, and then made the move. And then, obviously, a bit more free air, and I tried to pull away. But yeah, it was a fun race, and very flat out, and I enjoyed it."

Asked to expand on the pass, he said: “Obviously I got a good run out of four. He went a bit wide, and I think he used boost to defend, and I just waited, and then I used it out of 13. I used everything I had, and yeah, made the move.”

Antonelli stressed that drivers were using different energy strategies around the lap.

“A lot of differences depending on how teams deploy their energy, how they use the energy,” he said. “I think behind Lewis he was deploying more into the high-speed section than me, and I was deploying more earlier in the lap. So it really depends, as well, a lot. But it creates opportunities to make moves.”

Regarding his prospects for the rest of the weekend, he said: “To be fair, the car felt good over the race, also in terms of degradation. So I wouldn't want to change much in qualifying. It's more about trying to extract more from myself. But I think we're in a pretty good place.”