Antonelli details what ‘saved’ Mercedes as he admits being ‘disappointed’ by P2 in Dutch Grand Prix

Kimi Antonelli was left disappointed at ending the Dutch Grand Prix in second place but has also taken the positives from a weekend where he had struggled for confidence in the car, with the Italian feeling that his two strong starts “saved” his race.

After overtaking Mercedes team mate George Russell for P2 when the event got underway, Antonelli went one better during the subsequent restart – with the race red-flagged following a heavy crash for Max Verstappen – and snatched the lead from Lando Norris.

While Antonelli went on to hold the position for many laps, Norris had caught up to the championship leader during the final third of the Grand Prix and retook P1.

The 19-year-old opted to make an extra pit stop when a late Virtual Safety Car was called, dropping him behind Russell – but Mercedes made the call to invert their cars, allowing Antonelli to move up into second.

Reflecting on the race afterwards, the Italian said: “[I’m] a bit disappointed because we've led most of that half of the race. But yeah, 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.

“Of course it's a shame, because I really believed in it. But today was at the end P2, it’s the maximum that we could have done.”

Having conceded that he did not feel totally at ease behind the wheel of the W17 during the event at Zandvoort, Antonelli acknowledged that it was “for sure” encouraging to still bring home a strong result.

“I think it was one of the weekends where I felt the least confident with the car overall,” he explained. “But still, I think 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. Also George did a great, great job. He was a great team player today. Really happy with that, and now we look forward to Monza.”

Antonelli also admitted in the aftermath of the race that Mercedes had a challenge ahead of them in terms of keeping tabs on McLaren, with Norris claiming his second consecutive Grand Prix victory.

“Of course now as a team we need to find a little bit of time because McLaren have done a huge step,” said Antonelli. “We’ve got to keep pushing.”