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Antonelli Reveals How Mercedes ‘Saved’ Their Dutch GP P2 Finish
Highlights
- Kimi Antonelli finished second at the Dutch Grand Prix.
- Antonelli led much of the race after a strong start.
- Red flag restart allowed Antonelli to briefly take the lead.
- Late pit stop strategy helped Antonelli regain second place.
- Antonelli lacked confidence in car during final stint on hard tyres.
- Mercedes aims to improve before next race at Monza.
Kimi Antonelli finishes second at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, combining disappointment with optimism after leading long stretches but never feeling fully confident in Mercedes’ W17 across the weekend.
A rapid launch moves him past George Russell into second. A red flag for Max Verstappen’s crash resets proceedings. At the standing restart, Antonelli out-drags Lando Norris and leads.
Antonelli: “A bit disappointed” despite P2 after leading long spells at Zandvoort.
He controls the pace for many laps, but in the final third Norris, the championship leader, repasses. Mercedes struggles on hards as Antonelli’s confidence ebbs, hurting stability and corner-entry commitment.
A late Virtual Safety Car reduces pit-loss, so Antonelli stops again and drops behind Russell. Mercedes orders an inversion to maximize outcome, and the strategy call restores him to second.
Mercedes uses a VSC stop and team order to lock in Antonelli’s second place.
Antonelli credits two launches for safeguarding his race and calls this among his least comfortable W17 weekends, a sentiment reflected in his Dutch GP mindset through practice and qualifying.
The result also underlines Mercedes’ inconsistency at Zandvoort. McLaren’s progress is emphatic, with Norris recording back-to-back wins, reinforcing the Mercedes Zandvoort warning about outright pace.
McLaren’s consecutive wins amplify Mercedes’ need to find speed before Monza.
Attention now shifts to Monza, where low-drag efficiency and tyre management dominate. Mercedes targets improved balance on hard compounds and translating launch strength into sustained race pace and strategic flexibility.
Visual Summary
🥉
Antonelli
2nd Place
🏆
Antonelli’s Silver Lining: Disappointment, Fight & Hope
Fast Start
🏁
Takes Lead
Takes Lead
🚀
Norris
strikes back
Norris
strikes back
🔄
Team
Switch
Team
Switch
2️⃣
“Not confident all weekend — but rescued a podium!”
Next Target: Monza
Hoping for more speed
and another shot at gold.
Daniel Miller reports on Formula 1 Grand Prix weekends with race-day analysis, team-radio highlights, and point-standings updates. He explains power-unit upgrades, aerodynamic developments, and driver rivalries in straightforward, SEO-friendly language for a global F1 audience.
