George Russell gives first verdict on Mercedes’ big F1 upgrade after Bahrain GP debut
Mercedes' upgraded F1 car has made its debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
George Russell has given his initial thoughts on Mercedes’ major upgrade package after debuting it during Friday practice at Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Mercedes has brought its first substantial car upgrade since the Canadian Grand Prix at the end of May to Sepang, which is hosting this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix as a result of the ongoing war in the Middle East.
The W17, which has been the class of the field so far in 2026, has been updated with major revisions to the floor, rear suspension and bodywork.
However, Mercedes endured a difficult start to the weekend in Malaysia, with George Russell and championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli only seventh and eighth fastest in second practice.
Russell was asked if he was able to get a read into the changes Mercedes has introduced after Friday’s practice running.
“I'm feeling the downforce in some of the corners, but with this amount of tyre overheating and tyre degradation that kind of trumps everything,” the Briton said.
“So we just need to get on top of that overnight. That's more of a setup rather than the upgrade itself, and we go from there.
"When you bring an upgrade to any circuit, it’s difficult to know what your pure performance is and what it isn’t.
“I think if we had our new car last week, we would have said things were absolutely incredible and if we had our old version today, I don’t think things would have been much different either."
Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord confirmed the upgrades were working as expected.
“Everything is working as expected, the drivers have said they can feel the difference in the high-speed corners,” Lord said.
“The competitive picture here, on a circuit with a lot more medium-and-high-speed content looks more like a Hungary sort of picture than maybe it did last weekend in Baku.”
It would be a huge surprise if Mercedes qualified as low as it finished in Friday practice, but Russell believes the team has a battle on its hands, citing the impressive pace of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren.
“Currently, I think Verstappen looks very fast and then the race pace of McLaren, it looks very quick, but, you know, never say never,” he concluded.
Verstappen topped the timesheets in FP1, before Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc set the pace in FP2.
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