Andrea Kimi Antonelli will use a new front wing at the Singapore Grand Prix that completes the Mercedes upgrade package introduced in Malaysia, giving the team an important opportunity to understand its true potential. George Russell, meanwhile, will return to the older W17 specification, creating a direct comparison between the two configurations during the Sprint weekend.
With seven races remaining in the 2026 Formula 1 season, Andrea Kimi Antonelli leads the Drivers’ Championship by 84 points over George Russell. The Italian is therefore in a position to manage a substantial advantage, while his team-mate faces a difficult Singapore weekend from the back of the grid following the replacement of the power unit that failed in Malaysia.
Kimi Antonelli gets front wing that completes Mercedes upgrade
“It means nothing to me, I focus on what I can control,” Andrea Kimi Antonelli said when asked about George Russell’s grid penalty.
The championship leader, whose position can be followed through the Formula 1 driver standings, remains focused on approaching the Singapore weekend with the same objective as any other race.
“The mentality is to try to win,” Andrea Kimi Antonelli said during media day in Singapore.
The Mercedes driver finished second in the previous Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and has no intention of changing his approach because of either his championship advantage or his team-mate’s difficult starting position.
“From my side, I try to focus only on what I can control and deliver the best performance possible,” he said when discussing George Russell’s penalty.
“If I manage to win, great. If I end up on the podium, I’ll be on the podium. In any case, I’m looking forward to the weekend and getting the best possible result.”
Antonelli feels more in control than during 2025 Singapore GP
George Russell won the Singapore Grand Prix last season, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished fifth. One year later, the championship leader believes he arrives at Marina Bay in a considerably stronger position inside the car.
“This year I feel in a much better position in the car, I feel I have more control of the situation,” Andrea Kimi Antonelli said when comparing his current form with 2025.
“With the Sprint weekend this year it will be very demanding, there is a lot to look at compared with last year in terms of where I can do better.”
The compressed format makes Mercedes’ technical comparison particularly challenging because teams will have only one practice session before Sprint Qualifying. The complete 2026 Singapore Grand Prix Sprint schedule leaves very little time for conventional set-up work.
Mercedes will compare new W17 package against old specification
Mercedes introduced a new development package in Malaysia, but extracting performance from it proved more difficult than expected.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli believes some of those problems may have been specific to Sepang.
“I think Sepang was a bit of an exception overall because of the asphalt and the high temperatures. But I hope this weekend we can put the car in a better position and extract more from the package.”
The two Mercedes cars will therefore run different configurations at Marina Bay. Although George Russell is replacing his power unit, he will still compete without the ADUO 1 specification and will also revert to the older aerodynamic package.
“George will race with the old package, which we know works well on this type of circuit,” Andrea Kimi Antonelli explained.
“From my side, we’ll try to find answers about the new package, hopefully finally extracting its full potential. We will also have a new front wing, although we will only have one available, so we’ll see.”
The experiment gives Mercedes a valuable opportunity to compare a known specification against the complete version of its latest upgrade.
George Russell calls Singapore one of worst places for grid penalty
While Andrea Kimi Antonelli can afford to protect his substantial championship advantage, George Russell has little choice but to attack during the remaining rounds.
Starting Sunday’s Grand Prix from the back of the grid is particularly difficult at Marina Bay.
“If I could choose where to take the penalty, Singapore would probably be second only to Monaco in the ranking of the worst places to take it,” George Russell said.
“But given how things have gone, we have no other choice and, considering there are still seven races remaining, we will probably have to take another one as well.”
More on the British driver’s season and championship situation can be found through the George Russell F1 page.
Russell questions whether missing front wing hurt Mercedes at Sepang
George Russell described Malaysia as Mercedes’ most difficult performance weekend of the season, even though he believes both cars could have finished on the podium without his retirement.
“Malaysia was the worst weekend of the year,” he said.
“We probably would both have been on the podium [without the retirement], but it was difficult. We don’t know whether it was something specific to Malaysia or whether it had something to do with the upgrades, although there were no indications pointing to that.”
George Russell also highlighted the missing front wing as one possible explanation for why the new package failed to perform as expected.
“The wing Kimi will use, we didn’t have it in Malaysia, and the package also includes the front wing. Maybe that’s why it didn’t work so well.”
Russell admits his 2026 performances have not been good enough
The British driver was equally candid when analysing his own season and his deficit to his Mercedes team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
“Regardless of good luck or bad luck, I don’t think my performances have been good enough this year.”
“Historically I’ve always had a very strong record compared with my team-mates in qualifying, around 80-20. This year it’s perhaps 40-60, if not worse. That shows I’m not doing enough.”
Singapore therefore presents Mercedes with two very different challenges. Andrea Kimi Antonelli will attempt to unlock the full potential of the completed upgrade package while protecting an 84-point championship lead, whereas George Russell must recover from the back of the grid with the older W17 configuration.
For the team itself, however, the objective is straightforward: compare the two cars, understand whether the new front wing changes the behaviour of the latest package and establish whether the difficult Sepang weekend was an anomaly or evidence that Mercedes still has more work to do with its newest specification.
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