Mercedes upgrade package faces early test in Malaysia
Mercedes’ new Formula 1 upgrade package made its track debut in Malaysia on Friday, but the team endured a difficult day as several rivals appeared to find performance more quickly across the two practice sessions. George Russell provided the strongest Mercedes result by finishing second in FP1, although he was almost four-tenths of a second behind Max Verstappen’s benchmark.
Mercedes’ pace fell away in FP2, with Russell seventh and Kimi Antonelli eighth. Both drivers lost potential lap time through mistakes on their soft-tyre runs, leaving the Silver Arrows slightly lower in the order than their underlying pace might have suggested.
Verstappen appeared competitive on both the medium and soft tyres, while Charles Leclerc topped FP2 and McLaren improved as the afternoon progressed. Russell therefore expects Mercedes to face a significant challenge in its bid for consecutive pole positions, although he has not dismissed the team’s chances.
“Currently, I think that Verstappen looks very fast, and then the race pace of McLaren looked very quick, but never say never,” was Russell assessment of the competition.
“It was a really cool experience driving this circuit. I’ve never driven here before. It’s a really iconic place, so that was cool.“But yeah, with these conditions, tyre [degradation] is huge for everybody. And the cars are operating in a very different window. So, I think as a team, we just haven’t got the car quite where we need it to be. We need to make some set-up adjustments, because we’re a bit off the pace.”
Tyre degradation complicates Mercedes’ assessment
Russell began FP2 on the medium compound before switching to soft tyres for a single flying lap. He looked competitive through the opening two sectors, but ran wide exiting the final corner and failed to cut inside the bollard. As a result, he had to abandon the lap and continue through the pit lane.
Antonelli also ran wide on the soft tyre and lost his lap time for exceeding track limits. Those incidents contributed to both Mercedes drivers finishing outside their likely positions in the top 10, but the team’s tyre performance may prove more significant than the individual errors.
Communication between Russell and his engineer during FP1 indicated that Mercedes could be suffering greater tyre degradation than Red Bull. That made it difficult to determine the full effect of the upgrade package, which features revisions to the floor edge, sidepods and rear diffuser.
“You know, I’m feeling the [extra] downforce in some of the corners, but with this amount of tyre overheating and tyre degradation, that kind of trumps everything. So, we just need to get on top of that overnight, that’s more of a set-up rather than the upgrade itself, and go from there.”
Mercedes will study Friday data before qualifying
Mercedes Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord also described Friday as a challenging session for the team. Russell and Antonelli completed 56 laps between them in FP2, giving Mercedes data to analyse despite the difficulties with tyre management and single-lap performance.
“It’s probably been one of our toughest Fridays of the season so far, and the competitive picture looks a lot more like it did, say, in somewhere like Hungary than maybe last weekend in Baku,” Lord admitted.
“The feedback from the drivers has been positive [about the upgrades], they can feel more downforce in the high-speed corners and that sort of thing. We’ve got make sure that we’re running the car where it’s now at its happiest with that update and there’ll be lots of work this evening to trawl through the data and just make sure we’re sort of ticking everything off in the right way.
“Equally, we haven’t got any opportunity to revert on the update here this weekend, so you know we’ve got what we’ve got and we need to make the most of it.
“The long runs all look very close, probably Verstappen [was the] class of the field in both FP1 and FP2 on the different tyres, but it looks like a very, very close-fought thing just behind him. So, we’re right in that mix and with a few improvements we can take a step forward from there.”
Why This Matters
Mercedes’ Friday running in Malaysia suggests that the new upgrade package is producing additional downforce, particularly in high-speed corners, but the benefit is currently being limited by tyre overheating and degradation. The team cannot revert to its previous specification during the weekend, so Mercedes must optimise the updated car through setup changes and analysis of the practice data.
Verstappen’s performance on both tyre compounds and McLaren’s strong long-run pace provide Mercedes with a demanding competitive target. With the order behind Verstappen appearing close, improvements in tyre management and car balance could determine whether Russell and Antonelli move forward before qualifying.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Mercedes perform in Friday practice in Malaysia?
George Russell finished second in FP1 and seventh in FP2. Kimi Antonelli was eighth in FP2 after losing a soft-tyre lap to track limits.
What is included in Mercedes’ new upgrade package?
The package includes changes to the floor edge, sidepods and rear diffuser.
What does Mercedes need to improve?
Mercedes needs to reduce tyre overheating and degradation and make setup adjustments so the upgraded car operates in its most effective window.
