Antonelli makes title 'wake-up call' admission after Dutch GP Qualifying mistakes

Following Saturday's Sprint Race, in which Antonelli finished P4, the 19-year-old sits 53 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers' title race, but he did lose some ground to teammate Russell, who won from Pole Position.

Antonelli picked up "big time" damage during SQ1 on Friday after bouncing onto the gravel track at Turn 13 in Zandvoort, which he felt compromised the rest of his Sprint Qualifying. The Italian has now pointed to another costly mistake during Grand Prix Qualifying, but is adamant pressures relating to the title race are not getting to him despite the "wake-up call."

F1's youngest-ever championship leader told GPblog and other media: "No, I don’t feel any extra pressure. But it was a very good wake-up call this weekend, that you can never lower your guard because when you do that… I did a mistake yesterday and today I did a mistake in Q3.

Explaining his issues during Qualifying, Antonelli said he was affected by poor visibility as the rain started to pour in Q3, which impacted how he approached Turn 1.

Antonelli said: "Just struggling with the balance, to be fair, throughout the whole session. Mainly Sector 3, was struggling in the chicane. And then just made a couple of changes and the feeling came back.