Hamilton spent the closing laps at Zandvoort scrambling behind George Russell for a podium he believes Ferrari had already spent on its pit wall.
On fresher tires and up to a second a lap quicker than his teammate, Hamilton caught the sister Ferrari of Charles Leclerc and was held up for several laps before Leclerc was finally called in.
“Great way of wasting time guys, good job,” Hamilton radioed the pit wall, the sarcasm audible.
He crossed the line fourth, more than 20 seconds behind race winner Lando Norris, who beat Antonelli by 11.5 seconds after Max Verstappen crashed out of the race on the opening lap. Russell was third, Leclerc fifth.
Read also: FIFA race takes shape as Ceferin steps aside and three names enter the frame
Hamilton points to time lost behind Leclerc
Away from the radio, Hamilton was more measured but no less direct.
“I want to win. I want to win. I’m here to win and it is difficult when you’re looking ahead and you see the two Mercedes drivers, they get the call and it’s done – they execute straight away,” he told reporters.
“I do think the time was lost when I was behind Charles, which ultimately meant I had a bigger distance to cover to try and catch up with George at the end.”
Leclerc was no more forgiving of the pit wall. Told to box on a lap that dropped him into traffic behind Russell, the Monegasque questioned the call over the radio and again afterward.
Read also: Manchester United’s highest-paid players revealed as Rashford returns on £300,000 a week
“I didn’t really understand why we had to box so close to George’s pit stop, because that really was kind of signing to finishing behind George,” Leclerc told Sky Sports.
Team principal Fred Vasseur did not dispute the mistake, but sought to downplay it.
“Charles was supposed to pit, we extended one lap and it was a kind of confusion but I’m not worried about this,” Vasseur said.
Antonelli’s lead is now seven wins to one
Hamilton moved to Ferrari for one reason: a championship to add to his record-equaling seven titles. On the numbers, the second half of 2026 now demands a run of near-perfection Ferrari has not shown.
Read also: Huge auction disappointment for Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ ball
Antonelli sits on 242 points with seven wins. Hamilton is on 183 with a single victory, tied with Russell but behind on countback. Norris, back-to-back winner either side of the summer shutdown, moved into fourth on 159. Leclerc is fifth on 155, Verstappen sixth on 112.
Hamilton was clear-eyed about the underlying problem.
“We’re still losing; this first half of the season, we’ve been losing three to five tenths on the straight, depending on which track we go to, and that’s a very hard deficit to overcome just through corners. But we’re close.”
A slim opening at Monza
The Italian Grand Prix at Monza on 6 September offers Hamilton one small crack. Antonelli will take a grid penalty at Mercedes’ request after a fresh power unit was fitted, following the reliability failure that ended his race in Barcelona.
Read also: Marmoush in London for Tottenham medical as De Zerbi presses on with Gakpo pursuit
“With Kimi we are taking the full thing,” Toto Wolff said, confirming a complete engine change and picking Monza because overtaking is easier there than at other circuits. The demotion will be at least ten places, and could send Antonelli to the back of the grid.
Ferrari, meanwhile, will bring its second engine upgrade of the season, known internally as ADUO 2. Team simulations put the gain at around 0.2 seconds a lap at Monza, driven by roughly 15 additional horsepower, aimed squarely at the straight-line deficit to Mercedes that Hamilton cited on Sunday.
Lights go out for the Italian Grand Prix at 3pm local time on Sunday, 6 September.
Read also: Anthony Gordon breaks remarkable La Liga record on sensational Barcelona debut
