Kimi Antonelli continued running Mercedes’ latest package in Singapore to help try and optimise the team’s upgrades.

As Formula 1 headed to Sepang, Kimi Antonelli was promised a ‘quantum leap’ in performance with Mercedes expecting their new package to improve their pace by three tenths per lap.

In reality, Toto Wolff was left confused as Mercedes actually took a step backwards. At the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, Antonelli ran the same updated package to try and figure out what went wrong.

Kimi Antonelli radio message shows how Mercedes fixed their upgrades

Antonelli’s P3 finish in Singapore is a promising sign for Mercedes, especially as he outperformed George Russell in the old specification of the Mercedes W17.

Data comparison shows that Antonelli’s package was superior, but only because of the feedback and tweaking done to his car over the weekend.

The Race analysed how Antonelli’s setup changed throughout the Singapore weekend, including a change midway through the Saturday Sprint which made sweeping changes to his performance.

“In Singapore, only Antonelli continued with the upgraded package, but his car simply didn’t look good. It had too much rear instability, which inspired a lack of confidence under braking, caused sliding on the way out of corners, and was overheating its tyres,” said Scott Mitchell-Malm.

Mercedes’ first fix came in the Sprint when “Antonelli was encouraged to change his diff setting on the entry to, and in the middle of corners”. Peter Bonnington’s radio message arrived as a “response to a lap 11 complaint of ‘too much oversteer’”.

Mitchell-Malm points out that the upturn in performance from that point on proves that the changes “brought the car alive”.

Antonelli’s feedback from the Sprint then resulted in several setup changes for the Sunday Grand Prix, including “raising the ride height and shifting the aero balance backwards.” In the race, Antonelli’s pace improved again and he earned a podium finish.

Mercedes upgrades will be thoroughly tested in Austin

Wolff was happy that Mercedes took a “step forward” with their new package in Singapore, but the true test will be at the upcoming United States Grand Prix.

The nature of the Circuit of The Americas possesses more high-speed corners and straight-line speed, so Mercedes can truly test the ability of their aero package.

Antonelli proved that the new package was an improvement, but Mercedes are still working on optimising new parts to unlock that ‘three tenths’ of pace that was promised to drivers.