Oct.8 (GMM) Mercedes will run back-to-back comparisons of its old and new aerodynamic specifications in Singapore after the major Sepang upgrade appeared to make the car worse.
Toto Wolff confirmed the plan after the team’s difficult Malaysian weekend. “Malaysia was obviously a very difficult weekend for us,” said the team boss and co-owner.
“We have spent the days since then working hard to understand why our performance was not where it should have been. We have identified several areas we need to investigate further, but F1 doesn’t offer simple answers and we need more evidence before drawing firm conclusions.”
Wolff said Singapore’s very different characteristics should help Mercedes isolate whether the upgrade itself is the problem.
“That is why we will evaluate both the latest update package and our previous specification across the weekend to ensure we fully understand the direction we need to take.”
George Russell, meanwhile, will definitely start Sunday’s race from the back after his power unit failure at Sepang.
“George has the added challenge of a power unit penalty, which will mean starting from the back of the grid on Sunday, following the engine failure in Malaysia,” Wolff confirmed.
“That is particularly frustrating given the way he drove last weekend and the result he deserved to be fighting for.”
Wolff added: “Our focus now is on giving him the best possible car and opportunities to fight back through the field.”