Kimi Antonelli saw his Formula 1 championship lead slashed after suffering a late-race retirement in the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

The Italian’s grip on the drivers’ standings slipped to 41-points as rival Lewis Hamilton took a maiden victory in Ferrari colours, and George Russell second for Mercedes.

Antonelli had overtaken his Mercedes team-mate just one lap before his car crawled to a halt, taking second place with a hard-fought battle around the outside of Turn 3.

“Of course, on my side, it hurts, but it's not that we were going to win the race today anyway,” reflected Antonelli.

“You know, of course, with the VSC and everything, it helped Lewis, but it helped me, for example, in Suzuka.”

Asked the cause of his retirement, he added: “I think it was battery, something related with battery. I'm not too sure, but, yeah, just switched off, so I didn't know it was coming, but it's what it is.”

If correct in his assessment, alarm bells will be ringing for Mercedes, with Russell and customer team McLaren having also suffered electrical faults across the opening rounds.

Showing maturity beyond his years, Antonelli was among the first to congratulate Hamilton for his 106th F1 success in parc ferme, despite his own obvious disappointment.

“Today, our maximum result was P2, so I was just very happy for him because he's been chasing that win with Ferrari for so long, and to see him finally, you know, achieving that, I was very happy for him, and I felt it was the least to go and congratulate myself with it,” he explained.

Antonelli had struggled to make up ground after missing FP1 on Friday, allowing rookie driver Fred Vesti an outing, a sacrifice that each driver must make twice across a season.

“I felt very good today,” he said. “I felt very strong, expecting I'm managing tyres, so, yeah, it was a shame because we lost a few points, but, yeah, it's not the time to be sad or anything.

“Of course, it hurts now, but I think in a couple of days, I'll be fine and already focusing on the next one.”