Mercedes leans towards upgrade for both cars in Austin

Mercedes is leaning towards putting both cars back on its difficult new aerodynamic package in Austin, just as Kimi Antonelli will arrive with his first chance to clinch the world championship.

Mercedes split its specifications in Singapore, with Antonelli running the newer car and George Russell reverting to the older version.

Toto Wolff said the experiment was worthwhile.

"We took a highly unusual step for the industry and fielded two different cars because we felt we needed to accelerate our learning curve," said the team boss.

"And that was a good thing."

Wolff said Mercedes now better understands why the upgrade initially proved so troublesome.

"This new car requires a completely different setup philosophy than the previous one," he explained. "That’s what we’re learning at the moment."

He remains cautious about its outright performance.

"Does it have the performance we hoped for from the upgrade? I don’t think so yet, but it was a step in the right direction."

Austin now looks likely to mark a return to the new specification for both drivers.

"The current situation is that we will probably use the new version in Austin," he said.

"The drivers believe that this should have a positive impact or be an advantage in Austin."

Trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin was even more positive.

"By the end of the weekend, Kimi’s package was clearly the faster of the two," he said.

"That gives us confidence that we are moving in the right direction in terms of development. There is still work to be done, but the data collected will be valuable in preparation for Austin."

Antonelli, meanwhile, will travel to Texas with a mathematical chance to seal the title.

"Maybe I’ll dream about it a little on the way back from Singapore," said the Italian. "But I have to keep working hard."