Why Mercedes Reverted George Russell to Old F1 Car Spec in Singapore

Mercedes Turns to Live Testing in Singapore After Sepang Upgrade Discrepancies

Mercedes took calculated risks during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend by running split specifications across its garage to diagnose aerodynamic issues stemming from an update package introduced at Sepang. Despite debuting a redesigned floor and bodywork package during the earlier race weekend, the Anglo-German outfit fell short of its anticipated performance gains. With George Russell already facing grid penalties due to power-unit changes, the Briton advocated for and agreed to step back to his previous aerodynamic package—the same configuration he used to take victory in Baku—creating a direct comparative experiment alongside Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Formula 1’s financial framework heavily influenced the team’s tactical decision to run live experiments rather than waiting for offline correlation. Addressing the program on the Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show, deputy team principal Bradley Lord stated:

“Cost cap was part of the reason we ran the back-to-back experiment in Singapore, because it was both the fastest way to do the learning with a real world experiment – even though it was a sprint weekend and maybe not ideal test conditions from that point of view – but it was also the most efficient way for us to do it, to take the set of componentry we still had for the previous configuration of the car and roll back George’s spec in Singapore in order that we could run old and new alongside each other and start to do that real-world learning, having spotted that some of the behaviours we’d seen in Sepang were not exactly what we predicted or were maybe outside of the window of what we can predict in the wind tunnel and in the simulator.”

Lord added: “It’s an ever-present constraint, but it’s also a constraint that’s there for every team. And it’s down to us to make the most of it and deliver the most performance within that.”

Track Anomalies and Aerodynamic Balance Challenges

Mercedes deputy technical director Simone Resta pointed to the unique nature of Sepang as a major factor that skewed the team’s initial simulation expectations. Resta observed that Sepang is “quite a different track” compared to most venues on the Formula 1 schedule.

“It’s quite a tough one,” Resta explained. “Very different tarmac, very changeable conditions. It can be very hot, but also it can quite quickly rain. The ambient temperature is very high, and it’s characterised by very high degradation for the tyres, et cetera.”

Resta elaborated on how the atypical venue created development uncertainty:

“I guess it’s a bit off the scale in terms of track if compared to the average. Therefore, you are not sure that the evidence on the track there translates exactly one to one in all the other tracks. And we left there with the confidence that we were competitive, because I think we were competitive there. But perhaps we wouldn’t see the step forward that we were expecting to see in those particular conditions according to the simulation.

So we had a doubt. And probably the best way to answer to a doubt is actually to do a test – and do a test as early as possible. Sometimes you might take your time to think about it, when is the best time, et cetera. But just we decided, ‘OK, next race, let’s just immediately do a test, see where we are with the package, and get a clear idea about where we are’, and we delivered everything we were expecting.

George offered his availability to do the test, which was, I think, great. George is always a great team player, and he always thinks great for the team.”

While the new floor and bodywork package successfully produced the projected overall downforce numbers, it compromised the car’s handling balance by loading the front axle more aggressively than expected. This shift required recalibrating the operational window on a compressed sprint timetable.

“Therefore, you need to recentre the window we operate the car,” Resta noted. “And it’s taking some time. And it’s taking a time in a weekend that is relatively short, is a sprint weekend, where you run a little bit, you do some comparing, then you’re straight into the sprint, you cannot play anymore with the car, and then it’s raining in the sprint race, and you’re into the main qualifying.”

He continued: “It’s a long weekend from, let’s say, clock point of view. But in terms of number of laps and experience, et cetera, it’s relatively short. So you need to accelerate as much as possible your learning.”

Front Wing Trial and Sprint Weekend Compromises

To further speed up technical discovery, Mercedes also fast-tracked a new front wing into production, assessing it during the sole practice session in Singapore on Antonelli’s car before reverting back for competitive sessions.

“As we wanted to accelerate the learning [compared to Russell’s old car spec], we even did a test with the new front wing during P1,” Resta revealed. “So in such a short time, we changed many things because our objective was to try to learn as quick as possible for the short and medium term. We wanted to check the new front wing – of course we weren’t planning to race it here, but we wanted to check it, compare with the old one, get the data, bring the data home, do the homework and prepare ourselves in the best way for the next event. So you need to also to see that as an investment on our future, to gather the data, to gather the understanding, and then at the time to think, simulate, run on the simulator and then move on.”

Lord supported this forward-looking methodology, detailing why the experimental wing was restricted to FP1:

“And it’s worth saying, it was worth our while running that front wing in FP1 as well, because we learned things that will mean we can hopefully hit the ground running in a better way when we get to Austin with both cars in the updated config and running the new front wing and able to hopefully make the most of that sort of higher peak performance in a way we haven’t been able to do as effectively so far.”

When asked why Mercedes did not field the component through qualifying and race sessions, Lord clarified: “We only had one there. We’d sort of rushed it through production, but obviously if you’ve only got one example, you run the risk of pitlane starts, if you damage things. And so the balance of risk, I didn’t favour running it for qualifying or in sprint or the main race, but certainly doing the learning was really useful.”

Despite the setup compromises, Russell mounted a recovery drive from the back of the grid to finish ninth, while Antonelli secured a podium place to further bolster his title aspirations.

Why This Matters

Modern Formula 1 regulations severely restrict private testing and wind-tunnel occupancy while capping total annual expenditure. When track behavior diverges from wind tunnel and CFD predictions, race weekends frequently become the only viable environment to troubleshoot complex aerodynamic phenomena. By sacrificing setup continuity on Russell’s car and using Antonelli’s practice run to trial an isolated front wing, Mercedes gathered benchmark correlation data that will direct development into Austin and future Grand Prix events without exceeding cost cap boundaries.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did George Russell run an older car specification in Singapore?
Russell switched back to the car specification used in Baku to give Mercedes a direct baseline for comparison against the newly updated package on Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s car. Russell’s engine-related grid penalties made the weekend an opportune moment to prioritize long-term aerodynamic diagnosis.

What issues did Mercedes experience with its Sepang aerodynamic updates?
While the updates delivered the predicted aggregate downforce, the load was delivered inconsistently across the car. This produced an excessively strong front end that shifted the car outside its optimum operating window, an effect exacerbated by Sepang’s unique asphalt and high thermal degradation.

Why didn’t Mercedes race the new front wing in Singapore?
Mercedes had manufactured only a single example of the front wing ahead of the Marina Bay event. Committing to a singular part across a sprint weekend carried excessive sporting risk, as any accidental damage would have forced a pit-lane start under parc fermé rules.