Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell experienced contrasting fortunes during Sprint Qualifying ahead of the 2026 Singapore GP, as Antonelli struggled with the team’s upgraded package while Russell secured P2 running the older specification.
The team decided to split its car specifications for the Singapore GP, with Antonelli continuing with the upgraded ‘Malaysia-spec’ package and Russell reverting to the older version. The championship leader struggled on Friday, qualifying only seventh, which raised further questions about the effectiveness of the latest upgrade package.
Russell, meanwhile, put on a competitive display and secured a front-row starting position for the Sprint alongside pole-sitter Max Verstappen.
Antonelli on his struggles in upgraded Mercedes during Sprint Qualifying
Asked whether he was surprised at how difficult it was to extract performance from the car, Antonelli said: “Yes and no, to be fair. Already FP1 I was struggling and, yeah, still a lot to understand about this package.
“The car is very difficult, very unpredictable and very difficult to put a lap together. So yeah, it’s a shame because I was coming [here] with high hopes, but so far it’s been very difficult.”
He added that he expects the rest of the Singapore GP 2026 weekend to be similarly tricky given the apparent deficit of the newer spec, though he’s determined to find solutions for improvement over the next few days.
“Yes, I think it’s going to be a difficult weekend, unless we can pull something out tomorrow,” Antonelli said. “But other than that, it’s going to be very tricky. I don’t really see where we can find some intents, but you never know.
“Maybe tonight, Bono, the engineers, we’re going to find something in the car. And for sure, I’m going to try to improve a little bit the driving, and then we’ll see tomorrow where we end up. Well, best of luck with that homework.”
Russell satisfied with Mercedes’ Sprint Qualifying form at Singapore GP 2026
By contrast, Russell outqualified Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the McLaren duo to secure P2 for the Sprint.
After the Sprint Qualifying session, Russell told the media: “I think we’ve seemed competitive all day, to be honest, from the first laps in FP1; we obviously topped the timesheets there.
“We knew Max [Verstappen] was fast, and he went on a slightly different strategy to us in Q3, just doing the one lap. Who knows what was best, but pretty satisfied with the P2.”
Russell also expressed his satisfaction with how the older speculation W17 is performing, touching on his expectations for Saturday’s Sprint.
“Well, we can definitely confirm the old one is not bad,” he said. “Let’s see what tomorrow brings with Kimi on the upgrade. As a team, there’s still nothing telling us that it isn’t working, but it’s all driven by the stopwatch and the stopwatch has not been great for the upgrade yet.
“Let’s see. Maybe tomorrow is a different day.”
