Kimi Antonelli believes second place was the maximum Mercedes could achieve at Sepang, but the bigger question after the Bahrain Grand Prix concerns the team’s new W17 upgrade package. Mercedes is considering a direct comparison between its old and new specifications during FP1 in Singapore as it searches for a clearer answer over whether the latest development has genuinely improved the car.
Antonelli left Sepang with both important positives and significant doubts. Despite what was objectively a difficult weekend for Mercedes, the Italian limited the damage, extracted the maximum from the package available and benefited from strategic decisions that proved more effective than those made by several rivals.
Kimi Antonelli maximises difficult Sepang weekend with second place
Mercedes’ decision to remain on Intermediate tyres at the start of the race proved particularly important. Several major rivals, including Ferrari, instead started on dry-weather tyres, giving Mercedes a substantial early advantage that Antonelli was able to manage as the race developed.
The various neutralisations later allowed the field to close up again and gave the chasing cars opportunities to recover, but the early strategic call had already placed Antonelli in a strong position.
The Italian even took the lead with an excellent launch when the lights went out. However, the Medium tyre did not work particularly well later in the race, while Red Bull had shown a clear underlying pace advantage throughout much of the weekend. In those circumstances, defending first place ultimately proved unrealistic.
“I think I maximised the performance,” Kimi Antonelli told Sky after the race. “We didn’t have Max’s pace, that’s for sure. In the wet we were going well, although towards the end I started struggling with lock-ups.”
“In the wet I was going well, but in the dry we were missing something compared with Max. Second place was the maximum we could do.”
Second place strengthens Kimi Antonelli’s championship position
There were therefore reasons to smile after a weekend that could easily have produced a much worse result. Antonelli had already managed a solid fourth place in qualifying, suggesting that Mercedes still had more performance to extract after Friday’s difficulties.
His second-place finish also further strengthens his championship lead. At this stage, technical problems such as those that affected George Russell during the race appear to be among the few factors capable of significantly disrupting Antonelli’s position.
However, beyond the championship implications and the result itself, Mercedes has a more important technical issue to address: understanding exactly what its latest upgrade package has changed.
Mercedes considers old-vs-new W17 package comparison in Singapore
The new Mercedes package has come under scrutiny inside the team after Sepang, and Antonelli hopes a direct comparison could be carried out during practice at the next round.
The question is broader than simply whether the new specification worked in Malaysia. Sepang has particularly old and abrasive asphalt, while the high temperatures also placed unusual demands on both the tyres and the car.
Mercedes had already faced difficulties at other very hot circuits earlier in the season. Barcelona, another abrasive circuit, as well as Austria and Miami had all proved more challenging at a stage when Mercedes possessed a larger performance advantage over its rivals.
Toto Wolff sees more downforce but questions Mercedes efficiency
Toto Wolff’s impression is that the new package has delivered additional downforce, something that is also visible in the data. The concern is that Mercedes struggled to extract that extra load effectively at Sepang.
There is also a fear that the update may have compromised some of the W17’s previous straight-line efficiency.
However, one major question remains unanswered: how much would Mercedes have struggled at Sepang even with the previous specification?
The W17 had not been the clear benchmark in Madrid, Hungary or Zandvoort either. Mercedes was already beginning to encounter a lack of downforce at those events, even though the team was generally able to limit the consequences.
That is why Antonelli wants to establish whether Sepang exposed a genuine weakness in the new upgrade or whether the underlying problem was simply that the W17 could not find a way to make the car and tyres work properly on this particular surface.
Kimi Antonelli wants an answer as soon as possible
“It’s an answer I’d like to have as soon as possible,” Kimi Antonelli said. “We’ll definitely see whether it’s possible to do a comparison with the package in Singapore.”
“The team is working to see first of all whether it can be done and, if it can, we’ll do it in FP1 and see which one works better.”
A direct comparison would potentially give Mercedes a clearer reference, although Singapore itself will introduce another very different set of conditions.
The Marina Bay circuit has different characteristics from Sepang and a very different asphalt surface. The Singapore Grand Prix is the next round on the 2026 Formula 1 calendar, giving Mercedes an immediate opportunity to continue evaluating its latest specification.
“I have to say that, for me, in Singapore we’ll understand much better how this new package works,” Kimi Antonelli added.
“It will be a track with new asphalt, we’ll be driving at night so it won’t be as hot, and that should help us understand much better how this package really performs.”
Antonelli therefore leaves Sepang with another strong result and a larger championship cushion, but Mercedes still lacks the technical answer it wants. Singapore could become the decisive comparison for determining whether the new W17 package represents genuine progress or whether the team needs to reconsider part of its development direction.
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