Mercedes has decided to bring a new package of upgrades to Malaysia to improve the W16: George Russell explained the details
On the Thursday that kicks off the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend, George Russell spoke to journalists, including our team at F1inGenerale, about an important upgrade package Mercedes will introduce on track. Despite their clear superiority, the engineers at Brackley have kept working relentlessly to advance their car further.
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What is Mercedes’ strength? Russell acknowledges their advantage
Analyzing Sepang, returning to the calendar after almost a decade, George Russell noted that on paper, Malaysia is not Mercedes’ “home turf.” “I think we have a very efficient car, that’s true,” said the Baku GP winner. “We are strong especially on tracks requiring less downforce and with lower drag, like Azerbaijan and Monza, where we were very competitive.“
Of course, Mercedes remains in contention here in Malaysia as well. “I expect Sepang to be somewhat similar to the weekends in Madrid, Budapest, and Zandvoort. So we’ll see a very fast Ferrari and McLaren… It should be an interesting battle.“
Mercedes boosts performance with second upgrade package
Unlike their rivals, Mercedes only brought one upgrade package so far, in Canada. Yet, their advantage persisted, and few teams managed to beat them. Regarding the new developments arriving in Malaysia, technical director James Allison had estimated about half a second gain. “Did he really say that?” Russell exclaimed surprised. “I don’t think it will be that much.“
“It’s a good update, and we believe it will help us move forward especially since a long time has passed since our last package. It’s quite unusual to have one development in May and another only in October; normally one would expect something during the summer,” he added. “The key point is increasing overall aerodynamic downforce. We hope this will help us regain the lead on these types of circuits, which have been more challenging for us in the last six races.“
*Cover photo: Antonio Spina, F1inGenerale
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