Kimi Antonelli doubles down on Mercedes’ McLaren F1 title fears
Kimi Antonelli insists Mercedes no longer boasts the fastest car in F1.
Formula 1 championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli believes Mercedes no longer has the fastest car on the grid.
Antonelli finished runner-up behind McLaren’s Lando Norris at the Dutch Grand Prix as the reigning world champion secured his second consecutive victory either side of the F1 summer break.
Mercedes started the campaign with the fastest package and underlined its dominance over the field by winning the opening six races. But in the past six events, the Silver Arrows have shared two victories with McLaren and Ferrari.
Antonelli reckons McLaren’s recent form in particular shows Mercedes “clearly” is not the quickest anymore.
“We’re clearly not the fastest car anymore on the grid,” Antonelli claimed after Sunday’s race at Zandvoort.
“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.
“But I’m confident with the team. The team has been working super hard on this next package that is coming up and they just want to make sure that it’s going to work out well once we put it on.
“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.
“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.”
Team-mate George Russell, who finished third, warned Mercedes faces a challenge at the upcoming races.
“I think these coming two or three race weekends will be a challenge for us both, purely because we’re out of sync with the upgrades,” Russell said.
“I think we will be slightly more competitive there [Monza]. However, I believe Ferrari have an engine upgrade incoming, and the truth is we just don’t know.
“But I do believe that these high-degradation circuits really suit McLaren very well, and especially Lando. He’s always been a bit of a specialist in those conditions. We also saw it last year. Monza may be slightly different, but I think they are the team to beat right now.”
Antonelli and Russell’s comments come after Toto Wolff remarkably claimed that Mercedes cannot afford to respond to the development rate of its F1 rivals.
“We haven't got the money to put developments on the car,” Wolff stated on Sunday.
“I said it before, we are trying to evenly split that through the season, based on our calculations of when we can bring the biggest updates and optimising the championship points. We just can't do what we can't do.”
Antonelli is 59 points clear of Russell and Lewis Hamilton, while Norris is 83 points back in fourth.
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
