Antonelli Qualifies Fourth After Mercedes Updates Work
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 11, 2026
Mercedes split package
Mercedes used the Singapore weekend to run a direct comparison between its old and upgraded packages, and the plan gave the team a clear split between the two cars. Kimi Antonelli kept the upgraded package and ran a new front wing, while George Russell reverted to the older Mercedes specification. The setup choice turned Singapore into a test of the latest parts, with Mercedes trying to sort out which pieces of each package worked best. Toto Wolff said the upgraded car was “a little more tricky to drive,” a description that fit the team’s need to balance outright speed with a wider operating window. He said Mercedes was working through the details of the new and old configurations rather than writing off the larger update outright. Wolff also said the latest upgrade may need more calibration instead of being slower by nature, which points to a setup problem as much as a hardware problem. The team’s approach in Singapore showed a clear desire to get hard data before making its next move. Mercedes was looking for answers from both sides of the garage, and the split-spec run delivered them a direct comparison in Singapore.
Antonelli improves
Antonelli’s side of the garage looked stronger after the early setup work and the Sprint running helped him find more from the car. He qualified seventh in Sprint Qualifying and was six-tenths of a second slower than Russell, but the gap narrowed after the changes and the additional track time. Mercedes also found and dialed out the problems affecting Antonelli’s side of the garage, and that work showed up when he qualified fourth for the Singapore Grand Prix. Antonelli said the car still had a very small operating window, but the improvement was enough to put him in the frame for a strong result. He said he believed Mercedes could do more in race trim and hoped to fight for a podium. That outlook matched the shape of his weekend, which started with a difficult comparison against Russell and moved toward a more confident showing once the setup settled in. Antonelli’s progress also gave Mercedes a cleaner read on the updated package because he stayed with it throughout the weekend. The result gave Mercedes a positive data point at the end of a tough evaluation.
Wolff looks ahead
Wolff left Singapore with a cautious read on the team’s upgrades and on the road ahead. He said Mercedes was trying to determine which parts of the old and new packages worked best, and the evidence from the weekend pointed to a mixed picture that still needs sorting. The team’s larger update did not deliver the expected performance, and Wolff said Mercedes might favor smaller update steps in future after that result. He framed the weekend as a useful test, but not a clean breakthrough. In his view, the team was in “damage limitation mode” for the race, which shows how quickly the focus shifted from outright development to salvaging the strongest possible result from the package already on the cars. Wolff also said Antonelli was Mercedes’ best chance at a podium, a view that lined up with the improved qualifying run and the progress he made after the early struggles. Russell qualified sixth for the Grand Prix before an engine penalty dropped him to the back of the grid, which tightened the pressure on Mercedes even more and left Antonelli as the main contender from the team’s side. The weekend gave Mercedes a sharper picture of its upgrade path. It also showed that the team may need finer steps, more calibration and more patience as it works through the next round of changes.
