Formula 1’s boy wonder Kimi Antonelli was his usual ebullient self after finishing runner-up to Lando Norris at the final Dutch Grand Prix before its departure from the F1 calendar.
He had, after all, extended his championship lead to 59 points over George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who are tied on 183 points to the Italian’s 242.
But two days before Antonelli turns 20, there is cause for concern in a title race which, at one point, he had looked in danger of running away with unchallenged.
The Mercedes has not been the fastest car at the last two races and there will be some head scratching to understand how Antonelli in Zandvoort, on newer soft tyres, could not remotely erode the race leader’s track advantage despite Norris being on the hard tyre – in theory, the slowest available rubber.
On top of that, Antonelli knows his home race in Monza next weekend could yet prove a painful one as he is expected to take a grid penalty by exceeding his allocation of engine components.
