Oct.4 (GMM) Mercedes’ major Sepang upgrade appears to have made the W17 slower rather than faster, with both cars missing the top three in qualifying as Max Verstappen took pole.
Toto Wolff was stunned by the scale of the setback.
“We’ve never had an update go so wrong like this before,” the team boss told Sky Deutschland.
“We brought an update that was supposed to make us faster. But it went in the opposite direction, and we were now six tenths too slow.”
The package had been expected to deliver around three tenths.
“You’re expecting three tenths to kick in, and it looks like three or four or five-tenths backwards,” said Wolff.
Mercedes was particularly surprised by its loss of straight-line performance.
“It looks like we are very draggy because it’s the first time that we’re losing a lot of time on the straights, especially to Max,” Wolff said.
“And then through the low speed, in Turn 2 we are not able to turn the car. Overall, things we haven’t seen all year.”
Auto Motor und Sport reports that the rough Sepang surface and extreme heat may be exposing an unusual operating problem, but Russell admitted that explanation only goes so far.
“All the numbers point to an improvement,” said the Baku pole sitter and race winner.
“Nevertheless, it’s a sport where we have to focus on laptimes, not what the numbers say.”
Kimi Antonelli, however, warned against condemning the package too quickly.
“Is it because of the tarmac and because it’s so hot out there?” the championship leader, who will start the race P3 due to Isack Hadjar’s penalty, said.
“Or is it because maybe we’re missing something with the new package? Probably Singapore will give us a better read on the package.”
Wolff, however, sounded bleak about Sunday’s race.
“I don’t see any chance when you’re lacking as much on the straights as we are at the moment,” said the Austrian.
The surprise Mercedes struggle comes as Aston Martin produced its strongest qualifying performance of the season, with both cars reaching Q2.
“Fewer straights, more corners – it suits us well,” said Lance Stroll.
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