Mercedes suffer one of the ‘toughest Fridays’ of the season

Mercedes endured what Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord described as one of their toughest Fridays of the season during practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix. After introducing a new upgrade package featuring modifications to the floor edge, sidepods, and rear diffuser, George Russell finished second in FP1 before dropping to seventh in FP2. Teammate Kimi Antonelli placed eighth in the second session as both drivers faced lap-disrupting mistakes and significant tyre degradation.

Russell and Lord highlighted severe tyre overheating and set-up issues as major obstacles, trailing the pace set by Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. Mercedes confirmed they cannot revert the aerodynamic upgrades this weekend, meaning engineers must focus on overnight set-up adjustments to remain competitive for qualifying and race trim.