Racing
© Liauzh
Kimi Antonelli turned second place into a damaging retirement in the closing laps of the Barcelona Grand Prix, with Mercedes later confirming an electrical shutdown that turned a strong points day into a major hit in the Formula 1 title race.
The championship leader had finally cleared team-mate George Russell for second at Turn 1 on lap 61 of the 66-lap race, only for his Mercedes to slow two laps later and stop between Turns 5 and 6. Instead of taking the 18 points for second and stretching his advantage over Russell to a projected 71 points, Antonelli was left with nothing and saw that margin cut to 50.
It was Antonelli’s first retirement of the 2026 season and the end of a run of five straight Grand Prix victories. Russell inherited second place, while Lando Norris was promoted to third, creating the first all-British Formula 1 podium since the 1968 United States Grand Prix of Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and John Surtees.
Mercedes identified the cause as an “electric cutoff,” an instant shutdown that left Antonelli parked just as he looked set to limit the damage from a difficult weekend. He had qualified third and spent much of the race behind Russell before finding stronger pace in the final stints and making the pass that seemed set to secure another podium.
Antonelli told reporters after the race that the result was hard to take because the speed had been there. Kimi Antonelli, the Mercedes driver and championship leader, said: “I feel a bit empty to be fair right now.” He added: “For sure the pace was good today,” and said, “it’s obviously a shame because there were three laps to go, we were almost there, but races are like this, it’s no one’s fault, and now we look forward to the next one.”
He also said the first stint had been more difficult, but that he felt he had “quite a lot of pace” in the second and third stints, which made the timing of the failure even more costly.
The retirement tightened the championship on both sides of Antonelli. He leaves Barcelona still leading the standings, but now only 41 points clear of race winner Lewis Hamilton and 50 ahead of Russell after both rivals capitalized on his first zero of the year.