Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes deliver bad news to McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull at Bahrain GP in Malaysia as the Formula 1 championship leader reveals the Silver Arrows’ upgrade is worth three tenths per lap.
The W17 gaining three tenths is a frightening prospect after George Russell stormed to pole position by eight tenths of a second at the Azerbaijan GP, before beating Max Verstappen.
It was a weekend reminiscent of the start of the 2026 F1 season in which nobody could lay a glove on Toto Wolff’s team at the Australian GP and Chinese GP, and the development spells threatens to restore that standard.
As the team arrives to the Sepang International Circuit having won 11 of 16 Grands Prix, they had actually had a spell of being under pressure from their rivals as Ferrari and McLaren enjoyed a resurgence.
Ferrari won the Barcelona GP and the British GP whilst McLaren went back-to-back at the Hungarian GP and Dutch GP, with both teams having several near misses when it came to adding further victories.
Lewis Hamilton looked as though he was in the mix for the world title until being beaten by Antonelli at the Italian GP and Lando Norris also looked as though he could make a late charge.
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Mercedes have weathered the storm, but the team could have lost six wins across the campaign and with slightly different luck, their number of 11 wins may have been as low as five.
It had looked as though the Silver Arrows had lost their development path as Ferrari and McLaren aimed to close in with Red Bull also challenging, Antonelli and Mercedes deliver bad news as they reveal the depth of their update at the Bahrain GP in Malaysia.
How much is Mercedes upgrade worth at Bahrain GP in Malaysia?
Antonelli believes Mercedes can gain around three tenths of a second from its latest upgrade package, potentially giving the championship leader another significant advantage.
The development arrives after months of work at Brackley, with Mercedes targeting improvements across the W17 rather than focusing on a single area of the car in their quest to restore themselves as the clear-above benchmark.
The 20-year-old expects the opening practice sessions to be important for understanding whether the upgrades deliver the gains predicted by the team’s development tools.
The changes have been designed to broaden the W17‘s performance range and give Mercedes more options when balancing aerodynamic efficiency against the demands of each circuit.
And the Sepang International Circuit will provide a particularly useful test because its long straights and fast corners place different demands on the car compared with the low-drag characteristics of recent races.
“They have told me three tenths, which is a significant step, but we must consider that it is the result of months of work,” Antonelli said to media, including Total-Motorsport.com on October 1.
The Italian knows that three tenths on paper does not automatically translate into a three-tenth advantage on track, but a successful correlation would give the Silver Arrows another weapon in the championship battle.
