Mercedes trackside engineer Andrew Shovlin didn't mince words after Zandvoort: the team was "rubbish" through the high-speed Turns 7-8-9 complex, and he doesn't know why. Despite George Russell taking pole and the sprint win early in the weekend, McLaren's Lando Norris dominated Sunday, leaving Mercedes to settle for 2-3. Kimi Antonelli edged Russell in the race to stretch his championship lead to 59 points, but the team's confusion runs deeper than the result suggests. Russell's pace was weak in stint one, then rebounded. Antonelli went the opposite direction, strong early before fading through stints two and three. The cars were barely touched between sessions, yet each driver reported wildly different balance—Russell understeering, Antonelli oversteering. Mercedes banked 46 points, second-best haul of the season, but head-scratching is the real homework. With high-speed corners looming at Monza and beyond, answers need to come fast.
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