Toto Wolff described the data from Singapore as useful and the direction as right, but conceded the upgraded car has not yet produced the lap time Mercedes expected when the parts first appeared.

“Was it an easy car like the previous one? I don’t think it was. Does it have the performance that we were hoping the upgrade would bring? I don’t think so yet. But it was a step in the right direction.”

That verdict follows an experiment few teams would run publicly. At the Singapore Grand Prix on 11 October, Andrea Kimi Antonelli raced the new specification while George Russell reverted to the previous package, a side-by-side test the Mercedes team report described as “a useful experiment.”

“We made the unusual move in a cutting-edge technology business to have two different cars because we felt we need to accelerate our learning curve and that was good,” Wolff said.

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Antonelli third, Russell ninth after grid penalty

Antonelli converted the newer package into third place behind Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. Russell finished ninth, but he also started from 19th on the grid after a penalty for exceeding the allowed number of power-unit components, a complication Mercedes acknowledged in its own debrief.

The team’s own conclusion from the weekend was still that the upgraded car was quicker.

“By the end of the weekend, Kimi’s package was clearly the faster of the two,” the Mercedes report stated.

“This new car needs a very different set-up philosophy than the previous car. This is what we’re learning at the moment.”

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Why Wolff calls the upgrade ‘crucial’

Wolff tied the Singapore experiment directly to Mercedes’ development path for next year.

“It’s crucial for the development direction for the next year.”

For Austin, the plan is to put both drivers on the latest specification.

“The latest is that we probably want to run the new cars in Austin. Both drivers think it should have a positive effect, or it should have a benefit, in Austin.”

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Antonelli can clinch the title in Texas

Antonelli arrives in Texas on 340 points, 102 clear of Russell, with 150 points still to play for across the final six rounds. That math makes the 2026 drivers’ title mathematically available to the Italian at a single weekend.

Mercedes also leads the constructors’ championship on 578 points, with Ferrari second on 444. The United States Grand Prix runs from 23 to 25 October at the Circuit of the Americas.

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