Mercedes’ aggressive floor and sidepod upgrade at the Bahrain Grand Prix may have cost the team as much as half a second per lap, says Formula 1 commentator Will Buxton.
In‑track performance falls short of expectations
The Brackley outfit introduced sweeping upgrades to almost every body surface, targeting increased medium‑to‑high speed downforce that would trade a bit of straight‑line pace for cornering gains. Yet during qualifying, Kimi Antonelli put the car third and George Russell seventh; Antonelli finished the race in second place while Russell retired with a power unit fault.
Executive doubts and technical analysis
Speaking on the Up To Speed podcast, Buxton questioned whether the update was fundamentally flawed or simply ill‑suited to the Sepang circuit. He noted that, while Mercedes had aimed for a 0.30‑second improvement, team principal Toto Wolff estimates the package may have actually cost them 0.40–0.50 seconds per lap.
Testing plans ahead of the sprint weekend
Mercedes intends to run consecutive sessions in Singapore comparing the old and new specifications. With only one practice session available on the sprint weekend, the team will have limited real‑world data to gauge the upgrade’s true impact.
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