World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli has cast further doubt over the performance of Mercedes' recent upgrade package, saying his car was "very difficult" to drive during Sprint Qualifying in Singapore.
The long-awaited upgrades failed to deliver improved performance when they debuted at last weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, so Mercedes decided to compare different specifications of the car in Singapore. Antonelli is running the latest version, which includes an additional front wing not available in Malaysia, while George Russell is running the pre-Malaysia version he won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with last month.
The early evidence was concerning for Mercedes. Russell finished second to Max Verstappen in the shortened qualifying session, while Antonelli was more than half a second down on his team-mate in seventh. Asked whether he was surprised, Antonelli said: "Yes and no, to be fair. Already in FP1 I was struggling. Still a lot to understand about this package. The car is very difficult, very unpredictable, and very difficult to put a lap together."
Despite holding commanding leads in both the drivers' and constructors' standings, a lack of clarity over future development direction could have consequences for next season. Team principal Toto Wolff suggested Mercedes may bring upgrades in smaller steps in future, so that a warning sign can be undone more easily if a package fails to perform as anticipated.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing