Sepang upgrade leaves Mercedes with open questions

Reports from Sepang suggest Mercedes’ new floor and sidepods delivered mixed signals, even as Andrea Kimi Antonelli and George Russell remain first and second in 2026.

Mercedes’ new Sepang package remains an open question rather than a settled step forward. Autosport reported the team introduced a substantially revised floor and sidepods for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and fitted the update to both cars, which meant it could not complete direct back-to-back comparisons.

The early running gave mixed signals. Autosport reported Mercedes finished second and fifth in FP1, then seventh and eighth in FP2, before Andrea Kimi Antonelli set the pace in FP3. Motorsport.com reported that conditions at Sepang made it hard for the team to judge the package, while RaceFans reported Antonelli said Mercedes did not know whether the update had made the car faster or slower.

The uncertainty comes with Mercedes holding the top two places in the 2026 drivers’ championship. Antonelli leads on 320 points and George Russell is second on 236, while Antonelli’s Formula 1 record stands at 33 entries, five wins, five poles and 10 podiums. RaceFans also reported that team principal Toto Wolff called the Sepang race one of his worst experiences after the team’s difficult weekend.