Even though the Mercedes is no longer the best car, Antonelli can still smile

The latest race at the Zandvoort circuit (which will be replaced next year by Portimao in Portugal) has delivered its verdict: Mercedes is no longer the best car on the grid. Yet Kimi Antonelli has many, many good reasons to leave the Netherlands with a smile on his face. There are at least three reasons for this. He has extended his lead over the second-placed driver in the standings (he is now 59 points ahead of Russell and Hamilton), there is one fewer race on the calendar (there are currently 11 remaining, with the last two still subject to change) and the team has decided which driver to back for the drivers’ championship.

Lando Norris’s victory (the World Champion’s second consecutive win) on Max Verstappen’s home turf (where Verstappen crashed spectacularly into the barrier after barely two laps, on the very weekend his lavish contract extension with Red Bull was announced) has reignited a small but steady glimmer of hope for the papaya-coloured team. Lando is a long way behind Kimi (83 points adrift of the leader and with three drivers ahead of him in the standings) and it takes a healthy dose of optimism to consider him a contender in the title race. However, next weekend at Monza, the Bolognese driver will incur a penalty for replacing certain power unit components and so, if the race goes smoothly, his substantial lead will be whittled away.

Monza will be a make-or-break moment for Ferrari. On the one hand, it offers the chance to finally prove what many consider a certainty: namely, that the Scuderia is, at present – and particularly with ADUO’s second run – the best car on the grid. At this point, the reader will be wondering: why is the best car on the grid, with two drivers of the highest calibre, so far behind Antonelli? There are two possible explanations. They may be few in number, but they carry great weight. The first concerns qualifying. In the eleven races contested so far, the driver starting from pole position has won on no fewer than eight occasions. Ferrari, which has won two races, has yet to secure pole position. If the Scuderia wants to put pressure on Kimi Antonelli, he absolutely must improve his performance on Saturdays. There’s no getting round it. It’s pointless to say – as was rightly pointed out in the Netherlands – that their race pace was the best of all. That’s true. But if overtaking has become as rare as a train arriving on time (in Italy), then Hamilton and Leclerc need to start further up the grid. Otherwise, we’re back to the ‘masturbatio grillorum’ of Brerian memory. The second reason is just as important, albeit more delicate. It concerns pit wall management. To be honest, you can’t really blame Fred Vasseur too much. But when it comes to carrying out procedures, something is still missing. When He was there – Jean Todt (what did you think?) – everything was crystal clear. The priority was Michael Schumacher. Today, partly because Leclerc isn’t even a distant relative of Barrichello, it has almost become a ‘woke’ procedure. Hamilton used a very harsh term: ‘guinea pig’. It’s slang, meaning a laboratory test subject. The seven-time champion demands – and at this point will use his standing to his advantage – to be designated as the official challenger to the young Kimi. Will Ferrari choose him, sacrificing Leclerc (who currently trails Lewis by 28 points)? Probably not. The two Ferrari drivers will be free to battle it out and hinder one another, handing points to those ahead of them in the standings. It would take strong leadership, in the mould of Toto Wolff, to force Leclerc into a "I'll obey" stance – one which, quite frankly, the Monegasque does not deserve. He has been tilting at windmills for years; if there have been any reasons to smile during Ferrari’s long – and still ongoing – trek through the wilderness, the credit has been almost entirely his. Reducing him to the role of a court jester would be disrespectful and, frankly, unfair too. He’ll fall short once again at Ferrari. But without humiliating anyone. See you at Monza, our home track, on the first weekend of September.