Lewis Hamilton on Antonelli’s overtaking manoeuvre: “I knew he was coming”

The many British Formula 1 fans who had gathered at the Silverstone Circuit early on Saturday morning were delighted with local hero Lewis Hamilton’s strong starting position. The Ferrari star had secured pole position the day before in the sprint qualifying – with a razor-thin margin over championship leader Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes.

The seven-time world champion had already stated after his triumph in the sprint qualifying that he hadn’t expected to start from pole position. He also emphasised straight away that he anticipated stiff competition from the Mercedes drivers. Hamilton was proved right, as he came under pressure almost as soon as the mini-race got underway.

Antonelli quickly closed the gap and overtook him after just a few laps; from then on, the teenager controlled the race from the front and, after 17 laps, secured the first sprint victory of his GP career. Hamilton had to settle for second place and the rapturous cheers that greet him every time he appears at his home race.

“That was a tough race; it was really tricky to keep the Mercedes under control. I said yesterday that it would turn out like this, and today there was also the strong wind blowing against us on the back straight. I pushed as hard as I possibly could, I gave it absolutely everything, but he got past me,” said the 106-time GP winner.

“We still have some work to do to close the gap on the frontrunners,” warned the Ferrari superstar, explaining: “I used all my energy on the run up to Turn 6, because they were particularly quick there. As a result, I lacked the power in the 15th corner. And that’s exactly where he made up a massive amount of ground.”

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“He closed the gap in my slipstream and once he was in the window to activate overtaking mode, I couldn’t stop him. When my lead shrank to less than a second, I knew he was going to attack,” added the seven-time champion.