Mercedes will launch the W17 in split specifications at the Singapore Grand Prix, retaining Kimi Antonelli’s Sepang‑fitty package while George Russell re‑acquires the Baku‑era car.
New floor and bodywork debut
The team added a fresh floor and bodywork configuration for the Bahrain race, which carried over into Malaysia. The updated kit features modified floor boards behind the front wheels and a ramped upper sidepod surface, aimed at boosting aerodynamic efficiency.
Split cars to decode performance
Both drivers reported higher downforce at the high‑speed corners, but the musty, uneven surface of Sepang induced a mid‑corner throttle technique to keep the rear balanced. To dissect the behaviour of the new package, Mercedes has chosen a split‑car strategy. Russell, facing a power‑unit change grid penalty, will start from the back, arguing that the move was inevitable given the performance variances seen between Baku, Budapest, and Zandvoort.
Antonelli’s stance on the Sepang update
Antonelli confirmed he will maintain the Sepang updates for the entire weekend, even if sprint sessions hint at parity between the newer and older parts. He sees the Sepang race as an outlier, citing the scorching track temperature—over 60 degrees—and a poorly preserved tarmac that constrained the car’s low‑speed handling.
Understanding the data
Antonelli noted that “the numbers told us a different story in Sepang,” yet he expects cooler temperatures and a healthier tarmac to deliver a clearer comparison in Singapore. The season‑long effort to tinker is designed to ensure the car performs efficiently across all corner speeds, a factor the team believes the current upgrades will enhance.
Implications for the season
With both spec versions on track, Mercedes hopes to extract a straight‑forward performance differential that will shape next week’s tactics. The split‑car experiment may unlock an advantage that proved invisible in Sepang, while the older package’s reliability remains a fallback if the conditions shift.
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