A necessary comparison, not a final verdict
In a report published by Formula1.com on Saturday morning, Toto Wolff explained that Mercedes needs a better understanding of its upgraded specification. He considers it harder to drive, without concluding that it is necessarily slower.
Russell and Antonelli provide two reference points
The official Mercedes report confirms that Russell is using the previous specification while Antonelli retains the package introduced in Malaysia. Andrew Shovlin says the team is investigating why the expected performance gain has not materialised. Antonelli had less confidence under braking and on corner entry.
Official times, limited comparison
FIA document 32 confirms the positions and times below. The gap between the Mercedes laps is calculated from the official times; it does not isolate the effect of the upgrade.
| Driver | Position | SQ3 time |
|---|---|---|
| George Russell | 2 | 1:31.276 |
| Kimi Antonelli | 7 | 1:31.849 |
The development direction remains open
Wolff says more data is needed before reaching a conclusion. For future development, he is considering smaller steps that are easier to evaluate individually. He has not announced that the current package will be abandoned.
What one session can tell us
APEX interpretation: Russell’s result supports continuing the comparison, without proving that one specification is superior. Driving, balance and tyre preparation influence a lap. Mercedes also specifies that the FP1 reference times came on different compounds: soft for Russell and medium for Antonelli. The practice comparison was therefore not a test under identical conditions.