Penalty for Mercedes on the horizon: Lewis Hamilton devises World Championship plan for Ferrari

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli has only managed to score points in one of the last three Grands Prix: third place in Austria. In Barcelona, he was let down by his Mercedes’ electrical system, whilst in England an air deflector became jammed in the front suspension.

In George Russell’s car, the battery failed in Canada; in Monaco, the Briton fell victim to the FIA’s penalty confusion when numerous drivers were penalised for allegedly driving too fast in the pit lane. The pit lane had, in fact, been measured incorrectly. The result – Russell finished only P12 in Monte Carlo.

By comparison, Ferrari superstar Lewis Hamilton: no retirements, consistently finishing in the top six. Leclerc’s bad luck at Ferrari seems to be following him around – brake problems leading to a crash in Monaco, and steering failure in Spain.

Mercedes’ difficulties with the electrical systems could still play a major role as this entertaining World Championship progresses. At least, that is what seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton believes.

The 106-time Grand Prix winner said at Silverstone: “You can see that the engines are generally causing more problems this year than usual, and I’m not exactly sure what the situation is with the batteries for George and Kimi. But at some point they’re bound to face a penalty, as we’re only allowed to use three batteries over the whole season.”

“For Ferrari, it will be crucial to maintain good reliability, maximise the points every time and give it our all, even if we can’t win.”

Both Mercedes drivers have already had three batteries fitted to their cars over the course of the first nine Grand Prix weekends. It is not clear how many of these are still usable.

If Russell or Antonelli have to resort to a fourth battery, this will result in a ten-place grid penalty. A fifth or even sixth battery will result in a five-place grid penalty.