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Andrea Kimi Antonelli believes Mercedes is no longer Formula 1’s benchmark after McLaren secured a second consecutive victory at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Lando Norris passed Antonelli on his way to victory at Zandvoort, repeating the result from the previous round in Hungary. The latest win reinforced McLaren’s recent progress and prompted a blunt assessment from the championship leader.
“For sure, we’re clearly not the fastest car anymore on the grid,” Antonelli said. “We’re probably second or third, at least in today’s race, and McLaren has taken a huge step, especially since Hungary, since the big upgrade package they brought.”
The result follows McLaren’s qualifying success at Zandvoort, which was covered in our report on Norris beating George Russell to Dutch Grand Prix pole. Together, the two weekends have given the team a clear performance reference as Mercedes prepares its response.
Antonelli remains confident that the balance can change once Mercedes introduces its next upgrade for the W17. He said the team has been working hard on the package and is focused on ensuring that it performs as intended when it reaches the car.
“So for sure, in this race, it’s going to be more difficult, it’s going to be challenging, but we’re ready to do our best and to maximise every opportunity,” Antonelli said. “And then hopefully it’s going to be our turn to bring the package that’s going to give us a little bit of the upper hand again.”
Despite Mercedes’ loss of outright pace, Antonelli retains a 59-point lead in the drivers’ championship. That margin gives the team some protection, but the competitive trend is moving in McLaren’s direction.
George Russell believes McLaren’s advantage over the last two races is partly linked to the similarity between the circuits. He pointed to the long corners, high tyre degradation and two-stop strategies shared by Budapest and Zandvoort.
“I think this may continue for the coming two or three races until we start to bring more to the car, and fingers crossed our competitors don’t,” Russell said.
He expects Mercedes to be slightly more competitive at Monza, the fastest circuit on the calendar, while noting that Ferrari also has an engine upgrade coming. Even so, Russell’s conclusion was clear: high-degradation tracks suit McLaren particularly well, and Norris is currently “the team to beat.”
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.