Mercedes may scrap upgrade as Russell title hopes fade

Mercedes is considering abandoning its major Sepang aerodynamic upgrade after the package appeared to make the W17 slower rather than faster.

Toto Wolff admitted after the Bahrain GP in Malaysia that reverting to the previous specification is now a real possibility. "That’s not out of the question," the team boss confirmed.

"Now we have to see if we can find the old parts somewhere in the truck and get them back on the car," the Austrian joked.

Kimi Antonelli, P2 behind Max Verstappen on Sunday, said Mercedes may even use Friday practice in Singapore to conduct a direct comparison of the packages.

"That’s an answer I’d like to give myself as soon as possible," said the championship leader.

"We’ll see if it’s possible to do it in Singapore. If possible we’ll maybe do it in FP1."

The concern follows a weekend in which Mercedes expected its new package to deliver around three tenths, only to instead lose performance in qualifying and struggle with drag and balance.

Wolff said the team must now "dive deep into the data".

"It seems we’ve taken a step backwards," he said. "We have to analyse this."

The race brought another major problem when George Russell retired late with a power unit failure while running third. Wolff apologised immediately over the radio for the "f**k up".

Russell told reporters afterwards: "You’ve almost got to laugh."

"I’m beyond disappointment."

The retirement increased Antonelli’s championship lead from 66 to 84 points. "I wouldn’t say it’s over," Russell said, "but it’s certainly quite likely.

"If I want to come back, I need luck on my side. Instead of losing three points to Kimi today, it turned into 18."

Wolff called the retirement "terrible for his championship" and warned that reliability could still threaten Antonelli as well.

"The championship could turn quickly if he retires, so it can’t continue like this," he said.

Meanwhile, Verstappen’s first victory of 2026 was also the first Formula 1 win for Red Bull-Ford as a power unit manufacturer.

Wolff admitted Verstappen could become relevant again if Mercedes’ apparent backwards step continues, although the Dutchman remains 132 points behind Antonelli after Sepang.

"If you look at the points totals now, they don’t look like a threat yet," said the Mercedes boss. "But if we have really taken a step backwards, he will become a threat."