F1 / NEWS & CONTEXT

Russell unsure of Mercedes upgrade after qualifying eighth

George Russell says Mercedes cannot yet assess its W17 upgrade after a difficult qualifying session, despite wind-tunnel figures meeting expectations.

GPBeat · Newsroom03 Oct 2026, 12:41 · 2 min

Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth and George Russell eighth in Malaysia, leaving Mercedes without a car in the top three for only the second time this season, RacingNews365 reports. Antonelli had led final practice, and the team had brought an upgrade package to the event.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff told Sky F1, in comments quoted by RacingNews365, that the car had behaved in an unfamiliar way on Friday. He thought the team had made progress with Antonelli before qualifying, only for its pace to fade again. Wolff suggested the heat and different track surface might be factors, but had not identified the cause.

Wolff said Mercedes appeared to be losing time on the straights, particularly to Max Verstappen, and struggling with understeer at Turn 2. The team is examining its data. Wolff said he still believed its upgrade worked, but needed to understand why the car lacked pace in Malaysia.

Update

George Russell says Mercedes cannot yet judge whether its updated W17 helped or hindered its qualifying performance. After qualifying eighth, behind team-mate Kimi Antonelli in fourth, he told RacingNews365 that a direct comparison with the previous car would have helped. The older version, he said, might have performed even worse.

Russell said Mercedes’ wind-tunnel figures indicated an improvement and met expectations, but the qualifying result did not. He also suggested the circuit’s abrasive surface was affecting Mercedes more than its rivals, while saying he did not know why the weekend had proved harder than expected.

Russell is set to start seventh because Isack Hadjar, who qualified third, has a five-place grid penalty. He expects heavy tyre degradation and says race pace will matter more than Mercedes’ disappointing qualifying result.

Sources 02

SOURCEToto Wolff reveals 'something else going on' after rare qualifying failureRacingNews365 English · Source date as found: 2026-10-03
SOURCEGeorge Russell facing 'big question mark' after 'very bad' Mercedes qualifyingRacingNews365 English · Source date as found: 2026-10-03

Source context

RacingNews365 quotes Wolff’s remarks to Sky F1; his explanation for Mercedes’ qualifying difficulties remained provisional.

Source: Ian Parkes’s post-qualifying report for RacingNews365, published on 3 October 2026.

Claims and supporting evidence 10

RacingNews365 reports that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth and teammate George Russell eighth.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Mercedes’ qualifying result in Malaysia Qualifying during the October 2026 race weekend in Malaysia. The supplied article is the only read account of these positions; no official classification was supplied.

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RacingNews365 says Mercedes brought a substantial upgrade package and Antonelli had led the field in the third practice session. It describes qualifying as only the second occasion that year on which neither Mercedes reached the top three.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Context for Mercedes’ qualifying result The same October 2026 race weekend; the top-three comparison concerns the season up to that qualifying session. The size of the upgrade and the season-long comparison are the publication’s descriptions, not independently established by the supplied material.

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According to RacingNews365, which quotes Wolff speaking to Sky F1, he said Mercedes encountered unfamiliar car behaviour on Friday, appeared to make progress with Antonelli before qualifying, and then lacked performance again. He raised heat and the different track surface as possible context, not a proven explanation.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Wolff’s assessment of the performance change Friday practice through qualifying during the October 2026 race weekend in Malaysia. The Sky F1 exchange was not supplied separately; this finding relies on RacingNews365’s quotations.

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Wolff said Mercedes appeared to lose time on the straights, particularly relative to Max Verstappen, and suffered understeer at Turn 2. He said the team would examine its data and still believed the upgrade worked; he did not establish why it was not working there.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Reported symptoms and the unresolved effect of the upgrade Immediately after the October 2026 qualifying session in Malaysia. These are Wolff’s provisional assessments as quoted by RacingNews365, not measured findings or confirmation of the upgrade’s effectiveness.

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Ian Parkes reports for RacingNews365 that George Russell qualified eighth in an extensively updated Mercedes W17, three-quarters of a second off pole and a quarter of a second behind teammate Kimi Antonelli, who qualified fourth. The report calls it Russell’s worst qualifying result of the season.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Qualifying result and Mercedes upgrade Qualifying reported on 3 October 2026 These positions and gaps come from one read report, not a separately supplied official results sheet.

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Russell told RacingNews365 that the effect of Mercedes’ upgrade remained a 'big question mark'. He said there had been no direct back-to-back comparison and allowed for the possibility that the old car could have performed even worse at this event. His assessment does not establish that the upgrade caused the poor qualifying result.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Russell’s assessment of the upgrade After qualifying, as reported on 3 October 2026 The report supplies Russell’s remarks, not a controlled comparison of the old and updated car.

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According to Russell, Mercedes’ wind-tunnel numbers indicated an improvement and met expectations, whereas the qualifying result did not. The improvement is a reported indication from the team’s data, not a demonstrated on-track gain.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Predicted improvement versus observed qualifying result After qualifying, as reported on 3 October 2026 No wind-tunnel figures or comparative on-track test are supplied.

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Russell said he did not know why the weekend had been harder than expected. He characterised the circuit’s abrasive surface as unusual and said it appeared to affect Mercedes more than others; that is his assessment, not an independently measured explanation.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Russell’s explanation of the difficult session After qualifying, as reported on 3 October 2026 The supplied document gives no independent surface measurements or evidence establishing the cause of Mercedes’ performance.

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RacingNews365 reports that Russell entered the race 66 points behind Antonelli in the drivers’ standings. It says Russell would start seventh despite qualifying eighth because Isack Hadjar, who qualified third, had a five-place penalty.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Championship context and projected grid position Before the race following qualifying reported on 3 October 2026 The points gap and projected starting position are reported by this single source; no separate standings or final starting grid was supplied.

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Russell called qualifying 'very bad' for Mercedes but expected substantial tyre degradation and said race pace would matter. This is his pre-race expectation, not a race outcome.

This source finding must be read within the stated scope and source context. Outlook for the race After qualifying and before the race, as reported on 3 October 2026 The supplied report contains no race result.

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Corrections and updates to this story

03 Oct 2026, 12:41

Updated with a material new development verified through a separate News Made Clear newsroom run.

This article was produced with AI assistance. Source references make its supporting evidence traceable.