Toto Wolff reveals how close Kimi Antonelli came to a…

Kimi Antonelli left Silverstone empty-handed after suffering a mechanical failure during the British Grand Prix - but before that he had been firmly in contention for victory.

Having delayed his pitstop by 10 laps compared to Charles Leclerc, the Mercedes Formula 1 driver was chasing down the Ferrari when an aerodynamic component on the front-left corner of his car broke after he attacked the kerbs on the exit of Copse.

As a result, Antonelli lost several positions and Mercedes even considered retiring the car. Instead, the Italian continued to the finish, crossing the line ninth before being demoted to 16th by a five-second penalty for repeated track limits violations.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff revealed the team's simulations suggested Antonelli would have caught Leclerc with six laps remaining, setting up a fight for victory.

"Yeah, it's difficult, you know, that would have been an epic end of the race," Wolff told F1 TV after the finish. "He would have caught Charles six laps to the end with a huge tyre offset.

"But you know, it's a mechanical sport. These things can happen."

Wolff also hinted Formula 1 could review its approach to track limits penalties after Antonelli was penalised despite his repeated excursions beyond the white lines being caused by damage to his Mercedes.

Toto Wolff, Mercedes (Photo by: Max Slovencik / Getty Images)

Wolff admitted the team was initially unsure what had caused the damage and considered bringing Antonelli into the pits.

"We were not completely aware and there was the debate whether, for safety reasons, we should pit him. But then he basically dragged it out lap by lap and said, 'I can do it.'

"And, you know, we had track limits.

"Maybe we can look at the [how] track limits done and reassess. And then it's two points and that could be important at the end."

Russell salvages second place

Mercedes still came away from Silverstone with 18 points thanks to George Russell finishing second.

The Briton benefited not only from Antonelli's misfortune, but also from the late safety car. He inherited positions following Max Verstappen's retirement and Ferrari's decision to pit Lewis Hamilton, meaning that on a weekend when he had lacked pace compared to his team-mate, Russell still emerged with a valuable result and closed the gap in the championship.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, George Russell, Mercedes (Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Russell also benefited from the safety car remaining on track until the chequered flag, denying rivals on fresher tyres any opportunity to attack him after a restart.

"Yeah, we were actually hopeful that it would stay like this," Wolff said. "Because you have almost no chance against Lewis behind with a new soft tyre, almost new soft tyre.

"So that it finished like this, I'm super happy for George. He had such a difficult time gelling with the car recently and having a P2 is important for him and it's good for us."

Despite his second non-scoring race of the season, Antonelli still leads the drivers' championship by 25 points over Russell. Mercedes also leads Ferrari by 78 points in the constructors' standings.