Mercedes reveals cause of race-wrecking Kimi Antonelli damage and how close he came to British GP win

The Mercedes Formula 1 team has revealed what caused the damage which wrecked Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s British Grand Prix. 

Despite being passed by both Ferraris at the start, Antonelli appeared on course for victory as he rapidly hunted down Charles Leclerc on fresher tyres. 

But the Italian teenager’s hopes of the win were ruined when his front-left wheel shield failed, requiring him to twice visit the pits for repairs in the closing stages. 

Antonelli was able to finish the race in ninth place but picked up a five-second time penalty for multiple track limits infringements as he struggled to keep his ailing Mercedes within the white lines. 

He subsequently fell to 16th in the final classification and is now just 25 points clear of Mercedes team-mate George Russell, who finished second. 

“We had the problem with the wheel shield that broke,” Wolff confirmed to media including Crash.net on Sunday at Silverstone. 

“It looks like it is brake duct, cake tin, wheel shield,” the Austrian added. “Something got stuck in there and that’s why he wasn’t able to turn. I’ve seen the car but it’s not yet clear. 

“We’re going to take the whole car back to the factory in order to take it apart there to see really where it happened, why it happened, and why we had severe consequences of him not being able to turn it.”

Wolff praised Antonelli’s determination to drag his damaged car to the finish in a bid to salvage some points. 

“If it was me, I would have made the call 10 laps to the end because of safety issues,” Wolff said. 

“But then the suspension looked ok, that’s the biggest issue. He was then basically surviving from lap to lap and saying that he could do that. 

“At the end if we are able to get rid of that penalty, if, these points could be decisive in the championship.”

Despite Wolff’s indication that Mercedes could argue for Antonelli’s penalty to be overturned, Crash.net understands that the Silver Arrows will not be appealing the decision and consider the matter to be closed. 

Wolff was asked whether he thinks the FIA should take a more lenient stance to track limit infringements when a car has damage. 

“I think certainly for the FIA it’s always difficult to judge,” he replied. “Is the car so damaged that it should actually come in? In that case, I think the car was fine. 

“It was just this one feature that it was really difficult to turn. So I hope that they accept that situation but I don’t know what the outcome will be.”

Speaking separately to F1 TV after the race, Wolff revealed that Mercedes’ simulations suggested Antonelli would have caught Leclerc with six laps remaining. 

“That would have been an epic end of the race," Wolff said. ”He would have caught Charles six laps to the end with a huge tyre offset. But you know, it's a mechanical sport. These things can happen."