When the Mercedes opted to run an aggressively divided garage for the Singapore Grand Prix Sprint weekend, the goal was simple: gather enough side-by-side data to finally understand why their highly anticipated aerodynamic upgrade failed in Malaysia. Instead, the radical split-specification test has only plunged the factory deeper into utter confusion.
Following Friday’s Sprint qualifying shootout at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, George Russell successfully secured a front-row starting position alongside polesitter Max Verstappen while driving the older, previous-specification aerodynamic package. Meanwhile, his team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli - who continued to run the new, supposedly faster upgrades - heavily struggled with vehicle balance and qualified down in seventh place.
