Kimi Antonelli: British GP setback "makes the fire grow even more" in F1 title fight

Kimi Antonelli has seen his Formula 1 championship lead shrink to just 25 points over nearest rival George Russell and 32 over Ferrari challenger Lewis Hamilton in the space of three race weekends.

Where Antonelli struggled for outright performance during last year's European leg of the season, the picture is completely different this time.

In Barcelona, the young Italian retired from second place due to a power unit issue, while a broken wheel shield and a later time penalty left him pointless on Sunday at Silverstone.

"I don't know how much downforce [I lost], but the car wouldn't turn anymore," Antonelli explained after the race.

"In some of the corners the wheel was even in the air, so there was something fundamental that was broken."

Speaking to the media, Antonelli admitted he was not yet convinced that the broken wheel shield was the only issue that had affected his race.

Antonelli believes he would have beaten Charles Leclerc at Silverstone without his wheel shield failure

"I know now that the wheel shield broke, but we don't know if something else broke as well because by the loss it feels like it was more than just a wheel shield.

"Of course, the team will have more time to analyse it, but it was a shame because we had a shot for the win today. I think we were going for it."

After receiving a time penalty for repeatedly exceeding track limits, a late safety car completed Antonelli's miserable afternoon. With the race ultimately finishing behind the safety car, the championship leader dropped outside the points to 15th place.

"I just showed that I have the mindset that every time I go on track, I do my best. I try to give everything, even today, despite all the things that were already going against us.

"I saw there was still the possibility to get one point and I was just trying my best to achieve that. I was going to achieve that as well, but then the safety car came and I just didn't have the possibility to even try for that."

Although his championship lead has been significantly reduced, Antonelli takes comfort from the fact that the outright pace is clearly there.

Antonelli believes his time penalty for exceeding track limits was unfair, but Mercedes decided not to contest the decision after the race

In Barcelona, he would likely have finished second, in Austria Toto Wolff described him as the fastest driver in terms of pure race pace, and at Silverstone victory once again appeared within reach.

"We lost a lot of points, but the momentum is still there because I think this weekend we showed the speed," Antonelli continued.

"And we showed what the potential can be when I'm in a good place, when we're in a good place with the team, with the car, we showed what we are capable of.

"So I think that the momentum is still there. And actually it makes the fire grow even more, this [setback], to go out there in Spa and try to do even better."