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F1 Q&A: Mercedes Dominance Ends?

BBC Sport •
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Lando Norris beat championship leader Kimi Antonelli to claim his second win in a row with victory at the Dutch Grand Prix. Reigning world champion Norris moved up to fourth in the drivers' standings, 83 points adrift of Mercedes' Antonelli. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen suffered heartbreak at his final home race when he crashed out heavily in the opening stages.

F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your questions after round 12 of the campaign in Zandvoort.

Is it fair to say the dominance of Mercedes is over? They haven't won a race since Spa-Francorchamps, and even then that victory wasn't consecutive. There has been a very obvious shift in competitiveness at the front as the Formula 1 season has progressed. Mercedes won the first six races of the season, but have won only two of the subsequent six.

Mercedes have upgraded their car less than their rivals. Since the start of the season, Mercedes have fitted a total of 24 new parts to their cars, compared with 37 for Red Bull, 38 for McLaren and 40 by Ferrari. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says: "We haven't got the money to put developments on the car."

The obvious conclusion is that Mercedes either spent more money in the design and build process of this year's car than their rivals, or they have saved money to spend on their next upgrade, and/or next year's car. That is due at the so-called Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at the start of October, when there are either eight or nine grands prix remaining, depending on the situation in the Middle East.