Antonelli concedes Mercedes no longer fastest after Norris double

Formula 1's points leader Kimi Antonelli has conceded that Mercedes is no longer the fastest car on the grid after Lando Norris claimed a second consecutive victory for McLaren at Zandvoort. The 19-year-old championship leader admitted he was “disappointed” to finish second in the Dutch Grand Prix after having led much of the race.

“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 Italian also reflected on a weekend in which he lacked confidence in his car, admitting his two strong starts “saved” his race. “[I’m] a bit disappointed because we’ve led most of that half of the race. On that last stint on the hard tyre, something just didn’t feel right with the car — I just had really little confidence and the pace was not there,” he explained. “Today what really saved us were the starts. Two good starts, and managed to gain places in both. At the end we managed to finish P2, which is a great result for the team.”

Is Norris back in the title race?

With Norris now just 24 points behind the jointly-level Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in fourth, and 83 points adrift of Antonelli with the season’s 11 races remaining, the question of a title comeback has moved from fantasy to debate. Hamilton and Russell are level on points, with Russell ahead on countback, while Antonelli holds a 59-point lead over both.

Norris admitted that overturning the 83-point deficit would require a near-flawless campaign: “We are doing everything we can. I can only ask for so much. I clearly have a very, very strong car,” he told Sky Sports F1. “I have improved by over a second to the beginning of the year compared to our competitors. If you want me to be confident and if you want me to say ‘yeah, I can still fight for a championship’, I need more than what I have now. And that’s not to say I’m not pleased that I can win a race here and win in Budapest, but I know what’s needed in a season.”

Sky Sports F1 pundit Nico Rosberg, the 2016 world champion, believes the tables have turned. “A world champion’s drive by Lando,” said Rosberg. “Who would have thought, in Melbourne McLaren was nine tenths behind Mercedes and now Lando is the real driver to beat? What a rest of the season we have ahead of us.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella praised Norris’s assertiveness, describing him as “driving and operating at a very high level in absolute sense in relation to a Formula 1 world champion.” He added: “Lando is definitely now expressing a higher level of assertiveness as he drives. The manoeuvre on Antonelli is a 149 really good demonstration of that.”

Norris’s reference point in the comeback debate, however, is Max Verstappen’s extraordinary late-season charge in 2025, when he narrowed a huge gap before falling two points short at the finale. “Obviously we were on the not-so-good side of it last year,” Norris said. “I honestly don’t care what I’m doing next weekend or the weekend after. It’s nice to know that it’s a possibility.”