Kimi Antonelli under pressure as F1 rivals close in

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli will be looking over his shoulder, and not just because he has left his teenage years behind him, having turned 20 on Tuesday. The Italian, who is taking a 10-place grid penalty for his home race this weekend in Monza due to an engine change the team has to make, has won six races this season to open up a 59-point lead at the top. But he has been comprehensively beaten in the last two races in Hungary and the Netherlands by the resurgent reigning world champion Lando Norris in a McLaren.

At the start of the season, Antonelli had looked unbeatable, winning five races in a row, but Mercedes have admitted they are "out of sync" with the upgrades teams can bring to their car and McLaren appear to have leapt ahead of them with improvements to their own package.

Norris’ back-to-back wins show that there is still all to play for, and Antonelli knows the other drivers are now coming for him. "Just didn't have the feeling with the car that was sliding a lot overall," said Antonelli, after he was beaten to second by the Briton at the Dutch GP last weekend.

"As a team, we need to find a little bit of time because McLaren have done a huge step. So yeah, we've got to keep pushing," added Antonelli.

The Italian complained about grip during the race and told his team their strategy was "too risky" as he crossed the line. "We're clearly not the fastest car on the grid anymore," fumed Antonelli, who said he was looking forward to a Mercedes upgrade to give them the upper hand again.

Thankfully for the current championship leader, a swap with his rival and teammate George Russell moved him to second in Zandvoort instead of another third like in Hungary. And Mercedes boss Toto Wolff defended the use of team orders in the Formula 1 title fight after Russell protested when he was asked to give up second place to Antonelli.

Over team radio, Russell questioned the call to let Antonelli past in the final stages of Sunday's race, suggesting it left him vulnerable to Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton behind with little to gain for the team. Antonelli was on fresher tires but eventual winner Norris was far ahead.

Russell, who held off Hamilton to keep third, relented after the race and said his teammate and title rival Antonelli "deserved to finish ahead."

"Team orders are always harsh from one driver's perspective," Wolff said, arguing that not swapping positions would have left both drivers a target for Hamilton. "We're not losing time with each other if there are competitors breathing down our neck. We've seen it with the Ferraris at the beginning of the year in Shanghai, you just lose so much race time, you risk losing more points."

Antonelli had been ahead of Russell earlier in the race before Mercedes brought him in for fresh tires and that was another reason for the switch, Wolff added.

"Today, it wasn't a very difficult call, because Kimi was running second, clear of George, and that's basically the order we restored after the stop. So, a completely normal modus operandi, and we would have done it the other way around also," he said.

As for the grid penalty Antonelli will take to Monza, Wolff said: "Our theory, our calculations say that that's the best track to take it. Obviously, our algorithms don't take the nationality into consideration. We're here to fight for a championship and not the most PR, so that's what we're going to do."

Monza is a high speed track where Mercedes' engine is likely to be strong, and overtaking is relatively easy, giving Antonelli a chance to make up places. He's accepted the decision.

"I think it still will give me a chance to do a great result and bring home good points," he said.