ZANDVOORT, Netherlands — The fateful moment for Mercedes came at the start of Lap 54 of the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix. But it had been building for a while.Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli had managed to stay ahead of reigning world champion Lando Norris for much of the race, both on-track and in net position when factoring in pit stops. But the Briton was hot on Antonelli’s tail throughout, not letting the 19-year-old get too far ahead and biding his time.Lewis Hamilton was leading the race but had older tires. The three of them rocketed down to Turn 1, and Antonelli went to make a move on Hamilton down the inside — only for Norris to pass around the outside for second place and the eventual lead.Norris finished 11.5 seconds ahead of Antonelli, who re-obtained second place after Mercedes issued team orders.And unlike earlier in the season, when Antonelli and George Russell traded wins seemingly every weekend, the Silver Arrows are beatable, the domination routinely under threat as a development battle unfolds within the paddock.If you only looked at Friday and Saturday, when Mercedes showed good pace and Russell converted pole position to a sprint race victory, Mercedes looked like it would be a shoo-in to win on Sunday. But Antonelli struggled with the hard tire, and a virtual safety car led to a change in the Mercedes order. He went as far as to say he “had little confidence in the car” while on that compound.Russell began gaining on Antonelli just before Norris overtook the 19-year-old, as he enjoyed a contrasting issue — he felt strong on the hard tires while enduring a tougher medium stint. But it wouldn’t be for long, because of Esteban Ocon’s virtual safety car.The Haas was stranded on the track, and Antonelli pitted. Russell was running second as a result, and he said over the radio, “Just think about working as a team here, if Kimi’s out of the fight.” The subtext was clear: I’d like to keep this position, please.Kimi Antonelli and George Russell have watched McLaren close the gap in recent races (Clive Rose / Getty Images)But Mercedes needed to protect its double podium once it was out of the race for victory. Fitted with the soft tires, Antonelli looked much more comfortable, steadily building a gap over Hamilton, who was fourth and gaining on Russell. By Lap 59, the Italian was 0.903 seconds quicker than his teammate.Russell was coming under pressure. The radio call came around Lap 65.“George, we’ll invert cars this lap,” the Briton was told, the aim being Turn 1. The gap between the teammates was under a second.