Mercedes accept Antonelli's British GP penalty after dropping from second to 16th

Mercedes have confirmed they will not contest the five-second time penalty that cost Kimi Antonelli points at the British Grand Prix, accepting the stewards’ decision was correct even as the championship leader slipped from a potential podium to 16th place at Silverstone.

Antonelli had been running second with a tyre life advantage over leader Charles Leclerc when severe handling issues began to compromise his Mercedes W17. The team pitted him twice in an attempt to resolve the problem, which was eventually traced to a broken front-left wheel shield. Unable to fix it, Antonelli soldiered on but fell through the field to ninth, the position he held when a late safety car froze the order.

The stewards then applied a five-second penalty for four separate track limits infringements, dropping Antonelli to 16th and outside the points. In their ruling, the stewards acknowledged the mechanical issue but concluded it did not constitute a justifiable reason for leaving the track. “It was evident that Car 12 left the track at Turn 6 on Lap 44 without a justifiable reason,” they wrote. “This was the driver’s fourth track limits infringement of the race.”

Immediately after the race, team principal Toto Wolff had indicated Mercedes would explore whether the car damage provided grounds to have the penalty overturned. “We’re definitely looking at a situation whether we can avoid that penalty for track limits,” Wolff said. “At the end of the year, if we’re able to get rid of that penalty, if… these points could be decisive for the championship.”

Wolff also suggested the FIA might consider greater leniency when a car is compromised, though he conceded the W17 remained driveable. “I think the car was fine. It was just one feature that it was really difficult to turn. So, I hope that they accept that situation, but I don’t know what the outcome will be.”

However, following an internal post-race debrief, Mercedes concluded the volume of off-track excursions left the stewards with little choice but to apply the standard penalty, and the team has decided not to pursue the matter further. The result is a costly afternoon for Antonelli, who leads the drivers’ championship and will leave Silverstone without a single point to show for a race in which he briefly looked capable of challenging for victory.