Antonelli explains how Mercedes will ‘find an answer’ to unlocking upgrades in Singapore

Kimi Antonelli believes that Mercedes can “find an answer” as to why their most recent upgrades haven’t delivered the intended performance boost, with the Italian set to run a new front wing designed to complement the package in Singapore.

While rival teams such as Ferrari and Red Bull introduced fairly regular updates over the season, Mercedes opted to wait until the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to make major changes to their challenger, including altered bodywork and adjustments to the floor.

They had hoped that these would reinstate the performance advantage they enjoyed earlier in the season, but that didn’t quite come to fruition. Instead, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen converted pole position into a win for the first time in 2026, while George Russell retired due to a mechanical issue.

Although Antonelli still finished on the podium behind Verstappen, the race showed that Mercedes have work to do in order to optimise their current package over the remaining rounds.

Asked whether a new front wing will help the upgrades to perform as they should, Antonelli responded: “That's the question we will try to answer. George is going back on the old package, which we know works really well, especially on these kinds of tracks.

“On my side, we'll try to find an answer for this package. Hopefully we will understand it more and finally strike the potential of the package. Of course we'll have the front wing, even though it's just one front wing, but let's see.

“I think Sepang overall was a little bit of an outlier because of the tarmac, the high temperatures, but hopefully this weekend we will be able to put the car in a better place and just extract more out of the package.”

Alongside reverting to a previous specification, Russell will also receive a significant grid penalty for exceeding his power unit allocation, giving Antonelli an opportunity to further increase his advantage in the drivers’ standings.

He currently leads his team mate by 84 points, but insisted that his attention remains on working to get the most out of Mercedes’ upgrades rather than thinking about the ongoing battle against Russell.

“I've committed with the new package and I will commit for the whole weekend,” he said. “There's no way to go back to it because it's a big job for the team.

“We will try to do the best with what we have but I'm more confident coming to this weekend because I feel like hopefully we will have a better understanding of the package and we will be able to extract more of its potential.

“We're going to try and win. That's the mindset and of course, George is starting at the back but it doesn't mean anything. On my side I just try to focus on what I can control and try to deliver the best performance as I can and if I can win the race, great.

“If I have to do a podium, I will do a podium. I'm really looking forward to the weekend and hopefully we can achieve a great result with the team.”