Mercedes chief Toto Wolff was taken aback by how the team’s major upgrade package for the Bahrain Grand Prix seemed to push the Silver Arrows backwards instead of forwards. The package arrived with high hopes, yet the team delivered a lacklustre qualifying showing in Malaysia, where the race is being held because of ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth and George Russell eighth as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed pole. Verstappen’s first pole of the season was secured by an emphatic margin, with Antonelli half a second behind and Russell a further couple of tenths back. Both Mercedes drivers will move up a place on the grid as a result of third-placed Isack Hadjar serving a grid penalty.
Wolff’s Confusion
Wolff told Sky Sports F1 that the car behaved in ways the team had not seen all year. “Very difficult to understand,” he said. “We have been a little bit caught out on Friday with some car behaviour that we didn’t see all year, but then you can say it’s very hot and the tarmac is different to all the (other) tracks.”
The car looked good in final practice, he observed. He said so himself. “It looked really good this morning (in final practice),” was his exact word on it. “We seemed to have, at least with Kimi, made a step in understanding. And then, qualifying was a little bit back to what we saw before, just no performance.”
The problem is simple: Mercedes lost speed everywhere. “It looks like we are very draggy, because it’s the first time that we are losing a lot of time on the straights, especially to Max,” Wolff said. “And then through the low-speed, we are not able to turn the car. There’s just too much understeer. So, overall, things we haven’t seen this year.”
Wolff was still alarmed by the timesheet, even in the extreme conditions. “Something else is going on, and we have to understand,” he added. “This is now working through the data and putting our heads together, because we still believe that the upgrade works. We just need to understand why not here. It’s so different (in Malaysia), but nevertheless, you’re expecting three tenths to kick in, and it looks like three-four-five tenths backwards. It’s odd, but I guess we will find a solution.”
“It’s odd, but I guess we will find a solution.”
The Numbers Behind the Upgrade
This package mattered because Mercedes have brought far fewer upgrades than their rivals at the front of the grid this season. They dominated the 2026 season, but their upgrades have been rare since then.
Mercedes came into Malaysia with a winning streak on their minds. The package was the first significant one since May, and people hoped it would keep their string of wins going. But the team could not add to their record. They had won three races in a row before heading there, and they did not manage another victory.
Antonelli’s fourth place was disappointing, and Russell’s eighth was a step down from his Azerbaijan weekend. Verstappen was quickest across the board, and the gap to Mercedes was clear. The upgrade was supposed to kick in, and it went backwards instead.
Russell’s Disappointment
After a strong weekend in Azerbaijan that produced the season’s best results and a victory, Russell arrived in Malaysia with confidence. Here, however, he has failed to repeat that form.
The Brit’s deficit to Antonelli was made more disappointing by the fact he had two runs to his team-mate’s one in the final part of qualifying. A track limits infringement in Q2 forced the Italian to use up an extra set of fresh tyres, giving Russell a numerical advantage that did not translate into pace.
Russell told Sky Sports F1 that the car had not improved since first practice. “From the first practice we seemed to be ok, but we’ve just not really made any improvements since,” he said. “It’s a very demanding circuit on the tyres, the tarmac is all broke up, it’s extremely rough, it’s so hot out there and the tyres are going through hell. And, for whatever reason, it seems to be affecting us far more than others.”
Mercedes appear to be struggling more than the rest of the field with the heat and track surface at the Sepang International Circuit, according to Russell, who “It seems to be affecting us far more than others,” described the situation.
Antonelli’s Mistake
Antonelli did not like how his qualifying went either, although he thought the accident might have only cost him one grid spot at most. He believed Verstappen was too far ahead to catch, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton claimed second.
“It’s a shame for the mistake, but all in all, I think with a clean qualifying without the track limit, maybe P2, P3 on the road would have been possible, because obviously with only one set in Q3 it’s never easy, especially with the track cooling down,” Antonelli told Sky Sports F1.
“But Max did an incredible job and was very quick. And also Ferrari, they made a huge a step compared to FP3. All in all, we have to be happy because it could have been much worse. We’ll focus on tomorrow.”
The Data Race
The team will sift through the data to find answers, Wolff said. He is convinced the upgrade works, yet he does not know why it underperformed in Malaysia.
“We still believe that the upgrade works,” he said. “We just need to understand why not here.” The team will put their heads together, and Wolff expects a solution to emerge.
Wolff admitted that the performance decline came as a surprise, despite the unusual circumstances. “It’s so different (in Malaysia), but nevertheless, you’re expecting three tenths to kick in, and it looks like three-four-five tenths backwards,” he said.
What Tomorrow Holds
Sunday marks the start of the race, beginning at 8am local time, while the build-up kicks off at 6.30am on Sky Sports F1 ahead of the Main Event. The complete live schedule can be found on skysports.com.
Mercedes now faces the task of working out where things went wrong and correcting it without delay. The car showed promise during final practice, with Antonelli making a step toward better understanding, yet the pace vanished altogether when the session turned to qualifying.
The team managed a best finish of fourth, and an upgrade was expected to improve things. Instead, performance declined, and the grid penalty now places Antonelli and Russell further forward at the start than where they qualified.
The circumstances are severe, yet the team is convinced the equipment functions. They simply need to grasp why it failed in this instance.
Source material: “'Three tenths backwards' – Wolff admits confusion over Mercedes upgrades,” Sky Sports.
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