Vasseur: “The advantage that Antonelli has over us is top speed”

Endless duel The Mercedes-Ferrari challenge continues at the Silverstone weekend. The red had prevailed on Friday, with pole position won in Sprint Qualifying by Lewis Hamilton; On Saturday, however, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes smiled, winners of the Sprint in the morning and also authors of the pole position in the ‘real’ qualifying, always ahead of the Ferraris. Lewis Hamilton finished the short race in second place while in qualifying the front row, right next to Antonelli, was earned by Charles Leclerc. Mercedes’ advantage Thinking from a Grand Prix perspective, Fred Vasseur indicated what the extra weapon Mercedes can enjoy compared to the SF-26s at this moment: “In the Sprint our pace was good – observed the French manager – even if we saw with Kimi (Antonelli) that Mercedes still has an advantage in terms of top speed. We will have to understand if it will be possible to do something from a strategic point of view and it is on this aspect that we will work tonight. Overall it was a good day for the team, with Lewis’ podium in the Sprint and the points scored by Charles.” “Second and third place in qualifying are a good result for the team – commented Vasseur – although we always hope to obtain something more, as happened on Friday. There was an excellent reaction from Charles, who managed to adapt to the changes made to the car, regaining confidence and thus being able to push more incisively. Lewis also confirmed a very high level of performance and it is positive to have both cars close together on the starting grid.”

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-07-05 06:00:00