Mercedes to face 'tough' and 'worrying' end to the season

Nico Rosberg believes Mercedes will be "worried" by the pace of McLaren's Lando Norris during his Dutch Grand Prix triumph on Sunday and has predicted his former F1 team will now face "a really tough end to the season".

Norris built on his victory in the previous race before the summer break in Hungary by taking the chequered flag at Zandvoort to secure back-to-back wins for the first time in nine months.

The success, on the back of a major upgrade package delivered by McLaren at the Hungaroring, has allowed the British driver to rekindle outside hopes of retaining the drivers' crown he won last season.

Norris now trails championship leader Kimi Antonelli by 83 points. The 20-year-old Italian declared his concern after the Dutch race by claiming Mercedes was now only the second, potentially even the third quickest team.

The British driver made clear, however, in giving himself a rare pat on the back, that he felt his own performance, and not just that of the car, had propelled him into a position to pass Antonelli and go on to claim victory comfortably. 

Rosberg, the 2016 F1 champion, was thoroughly impressed by what he saw of Norris, and feels Mercedes will be concerned.

"Lando's pace on those hards, he was seven or eight tenths a lap quicker than George [Russell] in a similar situation," said Rosberg, speaking to Sky Sports F1.

"Lando was absolutely flying out there. It was unbelievable the speed. Mercedes is going to be worried now by this pace from McLaren because they're the team to beat now, and they've been developing that car faster than anybody else. 

"This could be a really tough end to the season for Mercedes. It really could."

Norris 'the guy to beat'

Norris had started from pole position, but lost the advantage to Antonelli at the restart following Max Verstappen's crash at the end of the opening lap in his Red Bull.

At a track notoriously renowned for its difficulty in overtaking, later in the race, Norris delivered a superb pass on Antonelli which allowed him to go on and win the race by 11.5 seconds over his young rival.

Rosberg feels Norris is back in the mix for a title tilt.

“Who says you can’t overtake at Zandvoort? We saw so many great overtakes," remarked Rosberg.

“A thrilling race and a world champion’s drive by Lando. Who would have thought, in Melbourne, McLaren were nine tenths behind Mercedes and now Lando is the guy to beat.

“What a rest of the season we have ahead of us now.”