Kimi Antonelli Says He Feels ‘A Bit Empty’ After Barcelona Retirement Ends Five-Win Streak

• Kimi Antonelli retired from the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in the closing laps with what Mercedes called an electrical shutdown, his first retirement of the season.
• The 19-year-old, who had been running second, said afterwards: “I feel a bit empty to be fair right now, but it is what it is.”
• He still leads the championship, by 41 points over Lewis Hamilton after seven rounds, although his run of five consecutive wins has ended.

Kimi Antonelli suffered the first retirement of his Formula 1 season at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix, stopping out on track in the closing laps with a technical problem that Mercedes described as an electrical shutdown.

The 19-year-old had been running second and looked set for a strong haul of points before his car failed. His reaction afterwards was candid. “I feel a bit empty to be fair right now,” he said, “but it is what it is.”

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How his race ended

Antonelli had been holding second place behind eventual winner Lewis Hamilton, who took his maiden victory for Ferrari. In the closing stages he had passed his Mercedes teammate George Russell to move into second, only for his car to stop in the final laps with the electrical issue.

It was his first retirement of the year and it brought to an end a run of five consecutive Grand Prix victories that had defined his season. A result that had been on course to extend his championship advantage instead returned no points.

“I feel a bit empty”

Speaking after the race, Antonelli was honest about the disappointment. “I feel a bit empty to be fair right now, but it is what it is,” he said, before adding, “Races are like this and it comes and goes.”

He also reflected on his own race, suggesting an earlier pass on Russell might have changed the outcome. “If I could have made the move earlier, it would have been a bit of a different race,” he said, “because the pace was very good especially at the end of the stint.”

Still leading the championship

Despite the retirement, Antonelli remains at the top of the drivers’ standings. The combination of his non-score and Hamilton’s win cut his advantage to 41 points after seven rounds, but it did not cost him the championship lead he has held for much of the year.

He was also given a post-race penalty for a track-limits breach, though reports indicated it would not carry any consequence into the next round. The setback in Barcelona was a single mechanical failure rather than a wider collapse in form, and he still holds a substantial points cushion at the front of the title race.

A first major setback

For a driver who is only 19 and leading the world championship, Barcelona was the first significant blow of the campaign after a sequence of victories. How he responds to it will be one of the storylines as the season continues, with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring up next.

Antonelli’s own words suggested a measured outlook rather than alarm, acknowledging the disappointment while noting that fortunes in racing come and go. The result ended his winning streak, but it left his position at the head of the standings intact.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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