Why Kimi Antonelli can't revert to previous Mercedes spec in Singapore
Motorsport.com • • sports
Key Points:
- Mercedes reverted George Russell's car to an older specification for the Singapore Grand Prix weekend after struggling with their new upgrade package introduced at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
- Russell qualified second for the sprint race but only just made it into the final qualifying session, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli qualified seventh, half a second slower than Russell.
- The new upgrade package offers higher performance potential but is more difficult to drive, with issues such as understeer and instability in slow and high-speed corners affecting car balance and driver confidence.
- Mercedes ran split specifications between Russell and Antonelli to better understand the new package, as reverting fully to the older spec mid-weekend is impossible due to technical and parc fermé restrictions.
- Deputy team principal Bradley Lord acknowledged the challenges but emphasized the team’s commitment to optimizing the current setup and learning from this experimental approach during the race weekend.
