Current Formula 1 drivers' championship leader Kimi Antonelli has made his Goodwood Festival of Speed debut, capping off a busy week that included the British Grand Prix, a visit to Wimbledon and tyre testing at Silverstone.

Appearing on the Pirelli fan zone stage, the Italian driver was quick to admit that he ignored instructions to take it easy during his maiden run up the famous Goodwood hillclimb. "They told me to go slow, but of course I didn’t listen," Antonelli joked. "I just tried to push, but it was good."

He added: "It's my first time, and I've got to go back home tonight unfortunately, but definitely I'm coming back next year, and hopefully I will be able to enjoy the weekend more, the experience more because it's just so cool. So many cool race cars, and it's the heart of motorsport. So, it's really cool to be here."

Antonelli got behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed for his run up the hillclimb. The two-seater, which serves as the inaugural model for the marque's ultra-exclusive Mythos series, draws inspiration from F1. 

It forgoes the traditional roof and windscreen in favour of a motorsport-inspired halo. The PureSpeed is powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine with 800Nm of torque. It accelerates from zero to 100km/h in just 3.6 seconds and can reach a top speed of 315km/h. Only 250 units of the PureSpeed were released, making it an ultra-rare piece of machinery.

The PureSpeed also comes with two aerodynamically optimised helmets, which have been designed specifically for the speedster. The helmets feature an intercom communication system to allow the driver and passenger to communicate and listen to music, and they will come in the colour chosen for the car.

Kimi’s first run of Goodwood

👌🌟
pic.twitter.com/nmeKtUzd6K

— Mercedes-AMG Passion Club (@MercedesAMGPCF1) July 9, 2026

Which current and former F1 drivers are at the 2026 Goodwood Festival of Speed?

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

George Russell feels the 25-point gap to Kimi Antonelli in the Formula 1 drivers’ standings after the British Grand Prix “is probably correct” based on performance, but was unsure if the bad luck has been equally spread.

Antonelli suffered a broken wheel shield in the closing stages of the Silverstone race while he was running in second and closing in on eventual winner Charles Leclerc. After pitting twice to rectify the issue Antonelli came out in 10th, but picked up a five-second penalty for multiple track limit breaches while battling the handling issue caused by the breakage.

The penalty, coupled with the finish behind the safety car, pushed Antonelli to finish outside of the points, while Russell profited coming back from his own slow puncture earlier in the race to finish second and slash 18 points from the Italian’s championship lead.

Immediately after the race Russell was quizzed about the bad luck evening out between the two Mercedes drivers: “Whether the luck has balanced out or not, I'm not sure. However, based on my performances and based on his performances over the course of these nine races, I think probably a 25-point gap is in his favour, is probably correct.”

Russell felt the current deficit he faces to Antonelli is “fair” as he conceded his Mercedes team-mate had made the stronger start to the season.

“He has done a better job than me this year to this point, so he deserves to be ahead of me,” Russell said. “Whether it should be 25 points, whether it should be 10 points, whether it should be 35 points is a debate, but in that ballpark [is correct].

“I obviously lost 15 points as well in Monaco with the drive-through penalty. I think anywhere from 10 to 30 points behind is probably about fair.”

George Russell, Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes

Is the bad luck even now between Russell and Antonelli?

While each incident of bad luck has to be taken in isolation, plotting the number of moments of misfortune and the size of the impact gives a general indication if it is truly even between Russell and Antonelli.

Russell’s power unit issue during Chinese GP qualifying hasn’t been included, given he was still able to qualify on the front row alongside Antonelli while the Italian’s superior race pace delivered him victory in the race.

Japanese GP

The first, and most obvious, pure bad luck was the timing of the safety car during the Japanese GP when Oliver Bearman crashed, which occurred just seconds after Russell exited the pits having made his stop.

That gave Antonelli and others the opportunity for a cheap pitstop, which enabled the 19-year-old to storm to victory. Russell was stuck in the dirty air of the cars ahead, resulting in fourth and a points swing of 13 in Antonelli’s favour.

Canadian GP

Russell had been on top against a feisty Antonelli in Montreal, winning the sprint and taking pole position for the grand prix. The British driver suffered an electrical failure while leading and defending from his Mercedes team-mate in the grand prix, giving a chunky 25-point gain for Antonelli.

Monaco GP

This is where it gets complicated. Looking at only Russell’s misfortune, it is fair to say he was unfairly given an initial five-second penalty for speeding the pitlane. Then Mercedes failed to serve the penalty in his pitstop under a safety car, so the penalty was upgraded to a drive-through which he served in the race and dropped him out of the points.

However, the unfair pitlane speeding penalties also apply to Lewis Hamilton, Pierre Gasly and Isack Hadjar who were all racing ahead or around him before the chaos unfolded.

George Russell, Mercedes

So, the points loss was 25 to Antonelli in Monaco, but could have been fewer – 10 points if Russell had finished third in Monaco which he had been on course for – but in this case we’ve interpreted a pitlane speeding gaff and Mercedes’ own mistake as all bad luck for Russell and not driver error, so the 25 points gap stands.

Barcelona GP

On to Antonelli’s misfortune, who suffered a mechanical failure in Barcelona which cost him second place moments after overtaking Russell. Therefore Russell inherited second place and with it an 18-point swing back in his favour.

British GP

Russell was the first to be hit with misfortune due to a slow puncture that forced him to pit and drop down the order, initially recovering to fifth place. At that moment, Antonelli’s bigger bad luck hit while he was in second when his wheel shield broke, with the series of unfortunate events dropping him out of the points.

Russell climbed to second, gaining an extra slice of fortune when Hamilton pitted for soft tyres as Ferrari anticipated a late-race restart that never came, which handed the runner-up spot to Russell and resulted in an 18-point gain for the British driver.

The result

So, in this extreme situation of all these scenarios being accounted for but nothing else changing, Antonelli’s luck (or perhaps lack of bad luck) puts him 27 points to the good over Russell. Given the 25-point deficit between the pair after nine grand prix and four sprint events, the standings could put Russell ahead by two points in this scenario.

However, F1 world championships aren’t won in ‘if’ scenarios and hypotheticals. Both Antonelli and Russell will have more incidents occur that are out of their control which is why Russell is not sweating over those lost points. It is about controlling the controllables to give himself the best shot of closing the real 25-point gap to Antonelli and not the ‘what if’ scenarios.

Lewis Hamilton expects Mercedes pair to get penalties for exceeding engine usage later in F1 season

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Anthony Davidson has defended the decision to finish the British Grand Prix under safety car conditions, insisting that the Formula 1 regulations must be followed regardless of the entertainment factor.

The end of the race at Silverstone drew mixed reactions from fans after the drivers crossed the finish line under safety car conditions. The safety car was deployed on lap 48 of 52 when Max Verstappen became beached in the gravel at Stowe corner. While the remaining laps wound down, fans' hopes were raised when a message stating the safety car was to come in flashed up on the broadcast.

Despite the message, the safety car remained out until the end of the race. The FIA later confirmed that the message was displayed in error, and there were not enough laps left in the race to carry out the full unlapping procedure.

Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show, Davidson shut down the idea that the race should not have ended behind the safety car. 

"I think that's why everyone was unhappy with Abu Dhabi 2021. The people who knew the rules knew that regulation because it hasn't changed since then," he said. "I think that's what the upset was all about. And back then, obviously, Lewis Hamilton fans and Mercedes fans wanted the lettering that's written down in all of the sporting regulations to be adhered to.

"So, you can't have it both ways. You can't have this time the Hamilton fans saying, 'Oh, we should have just got the race going again. He was on fresh tyres. He could have overtaken George Russell.' You were the same people who wanted the rule to be followed to the letter of the law in Abu Dhabi.

"So you have to follow the rules. The rules are there for good reason. What was unfortunate is we just ran out of time. It wouldn't have been a problem if there were 10 laps still remaining.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

"We would have got the race going. It would have been fine. But some people I've spoken to said that on both occasions, 2021 and Silverstone, should have been red-flagged. I think that's quite an easy thing to do."

He later added: "Personally, I don't really have an issue with races finishing under safety car, especially when it's right at the end of the race, because quite often by that point in time, you've got the picture of what was going to happen. How many American races do we see finish under either full caution or safety car?

"It's one of those things where it's just the way the cookie crumbles. Unfortunately, you're out of time, and it came too late. The race finished under a safety car. I would obviously prefer it to be green, but I don't really have too many issues with it finishing under a safety car because, by the last couple of laps, you usually know the result."

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.

Audi Formula 1 boss Mattia Binotto is calling on the FIA to "rethink" the ADUO upgrade scheme after Mercedes was one of the manufacturers afforded room for additional power unit upgrades.

The Mercedes engine is widely regarded as the strongest in 2026, helping the squad win seven out of the first nine grands prix.

But because only V6 power is measured to determine which power unit manufacturers qualify for upgrades, Mercedes had been one of the manufacturers allowed to conduct further work on its engines.

Meanwhile, the Red Bull Ford Powertrains V6 was determined by the FIA to be the benchmark, locking it out of further improvements beyond the restricted homologation schedule.

A frustrated Red Bull has contested this outcome, but additional reviews by the FIA have not changed its findings.

Rival manufacturers have long suspected the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari are holding back the performance of their V6s, whether for reliability reasons or to game the ADUO system.

Red Bull Ford Powertrains

Speaking exclusively to Motorsport.com, Binotto therefore feels the upgrade system needs an overhaul.

"In my opinion, the limit has been that it has exclusively measured performance on the track. A car with an overall advantage can afford not to fully exploit the potential of its power unit," Binotto explained.

"It's possible, for example, that Mercedes had an engine with superior potential, but had no need to push it to the limit because it already had an advantage thanks to the car. If that were the case, it could have also gained additional development margin.

"That's why I think the regulation needs to be rethought in this regard. This wasn't the original intent of the ADUO: the goal was to help those who were actually falling behind, not to create situations in which the true potential of a power unit might be difficult to assess."

F1 newcomer Audi is one of the reasons why the ADUO system exists in the first place, as it had been worried over the initial performance of its very first power unit and the system was a helping hand to ensure the German powerhouse wouldn't be stuck if its engines had been off the pace.

Audi's engines, while not up to par with those of its rivals as expected, have made a reasonable start, with instead Honda being the party that desperately needs the catch-up mechanic the FIA devised.

Binotto says he's not doubting the FIA's findings, but thinks the ADUO system has strayed too far from its original premise.

Nico Hulkenberg, Audi F1 Team

"On the results, I'm not questioning the work done by the FIA. They have all the tools and data necessary to make their assessments, despite the limitations that any measurement system inevitably entails," Binotto added.

"However, I believe it's important to remember the original objective of the ADUO. When it was first discussed, the concept was that of a sort of safety net. If a manufacturer was far behind at the start of the regulatory cycle, with regulations virtually frozen and very little room for development, it would risk dragging that disadvantage for five years.

"This gave rise to the concept of performance convergence: allowing those who were further behind to have a greater chance of catching up. Ultimately, it's the same principle that already exists for chassis and aerodynamics.

"Those further back in the standings have more hours in the wind tunnel. Likewise, those who are further behind in terms of power unit performance receive greater development opportunities to catch up with the others and make the championship increasingly balanced."

ADUO's sliding scale affords manufacturers upgrade tokens for every two percent their V6 engine is down on power, which is a minuscule amount.

The other sticking point is that while only the performance of the V6 engine is taken into account to award upgrade tokens, qualifying manufacturers can then overhaul virtually their entire power unit, including hybrid components.

It creates an environment in which manufacturers could radically improve their overall power units without adding performance to the V6 specifically, guaranteeing further upgrade opportunities down the line while freezing the leading manufacturer Red Bull out.

The FIA was keen to take more factors into account when coming up with the ADUO system, but F1's governing body says it was the manufacturers who were backing the idea to stick to V6 power as the determining factor.

Mercedes investigating George Russell's British GP top speed issue

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.