As his rivals chip away at his championship lead, Kimi Antonelli admits that recent issues have been frustrating.

After Monaco the teenager had an 88 point lead over his teammate, but then followed a series of issues and as we head into the Belgian Grand Prix weekend the gap is down to just 25, with Lewis Hamilton also closing in.

"Of course, it's very frustrating." the Mercedes star told reporters, "but this is motorsport, so things like this happen.

"Of course, I think now it's enough, but it's part of motorsport," he added. "These are external factors that you cannot really control. So I just need to maximise every opportunity I get, try to maximise what I have in control, and then we'll see what the rest will be. The team are doing a tremendous job to make sure that all these issues are not happening again."

Ironically, this time last year it was Antonelli himself who was throwing away points left right and centre, but this time around it is usually his car at fault.

Asked how he rates his season thus far, and whether his own performances warrant a 10 out of 10, he replied: "I wouldn't say 10 out of 10... for a few reasons.

"First one, Australia FP3," he continued. "That was not good because then we almost missed qualifying. We couldn't set up the car properly and stuff like that, so it compromised a bit the end of the weekend.

"Then I would say Japan. Yes, I did win in Japan, but I had a really bad start. Obviously, we extended the stint, and then we were lucky with the safety car. Then I would say, more recently, the Miami sprint race track limits, Barcelona qualifying, mainly Spielberg qualifying. So there are a few things... I would say eight and a half out of 10," he smiled.