{"id":3765,"date":"2026-10-10T13:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T16:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=3765"},"modified":"2026-10-10T12:25:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T15:25:53","slug":"russell-says-mercedes-felt-different-after-singapore-sprint-crash-something-was-a-bit-odd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/russell-says-mercedes-felt-different-after-singapore-sprint-crash-something-was-a-bit-odd\/","title":{"rendered":"Russell says Mercedes felt different after Singapore sprint crash: &#8220;Something was a bit odd&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">News Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>George Russell reported that his Mercedes felt different after being repaired<\/strong> following his crash in the Singapore GP sprint.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Briton said he had lost performance compared with Friday, while teammate <strong>Kimi Antonelli remained competitive<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Russell used qualifying partly to check the rebuilt car and save tyres, with a <strong>40-place grid penalty<\/strong> already forcing him to the back for Sunday&#8217;s race.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">George Russell has revealed that <strong>his Mercedes did not feel the same after being rebuilt following his crash in the Singapore GP sprint<\/strong>, with the Briton reporting an unexpected loss of performance during Saturday&#8217;s Grand Prix qualifying session at Marina Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell had shown strong pace on Friday, topping FP1 and qualifying second for the sprint with Mercedes&#8217; older aerodynamic specification. However, his Saturday race ended on the second lap after he overtook Max Verstappen for the lead and subsequently crashed into the barriers at the final corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Mercedes mechanics repaired the W17 in time for Grand Prix qualifying, but Russell admitted that the car&#8217;s behaviour had changed and that he could not immediately explain the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Russell says rebuilt Mercedes did not feel the same<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying, Russell explained that the session had been used partly to verify the car&#8217;s condition following the accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe were saving tyres but it was also a case just to make sure the car was built back together correctly,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSomething was a bit odd because we had great pace yesterday and Kimi&#8217;s in a similar position to where he was yesterday but I&#8217;ve taken a step backwards and the car didn&#8217;t feel quite the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo, yeah, we&#8217;ll go over all of that tonight and do nothing anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comments followed a qualifying session in which Russell recorded a <strong>1:31.747<\/strong>, 0.374s behind pole-sitter Verstappen, while Antonelli secured fourth with a 1:31.562.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The difference contrasted with Friday&#8217;s sprint qualifying, when Russell had qualified second and Antonelli seventh, separated by 0.573s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/russell-crashes-out-of-singapore-f1-sprint-after-overtaking-verstappen\/\">GRANDE PR\u00caMIO reported after the sprint<\/a><\/strong>, Russell had lost control after touching the kerb at the final corner and struck the barriers, ending his race shortly after taking the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mercedes continues to evaluate different aerodynamic packages<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell&#8217;s comments also came during a weekend in which Mercedes has been comparing different aerodynamic specifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Briton returned to the older W17 package for Singapore, while Antonelli continued using the update introduced at Sepang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comparison initially favoured Russell, who topped FP1 and qualified on the front row for the sprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, Antonelli&#8217;s fourth place in Grand Prix qualifying and Russell&#8217;s difficulties after the accident complicated the team&#8217;s assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff had already acknowledged that <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/wolff-admits-mercedes-upgraded-f1-car-is-harder-to-drive-after-russell-tops-singapore-fp1\/\">the upgraded car appeared more difficult to drive<\/a><\/strong>, although the team had not concluded that the new specification was slower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team will continue analysing the data collected across the weekend as it evaluates the direction of its aerodynamic development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Russell prepares for recovery drive from back of Singapore grid<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Russell&#8217;s qualifying position will have little effect on his starting place because he carries a previously confirmed <strong>40-place grid penalty<\/strong> for exceeding his power-unit component allocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Briton will start at the back of the field, leaving him with a difficult task at Marina Bay, where overtaking is particularly challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked what would make Sunday&#8217;s race successful, Russell focused on recovering positions rather than continuing Mercedes&#8217; aerodynamic comparison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI mean, we&#8217;re having a great race and trying to come through and doing good overtakes,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Mercedes driver enters Sunday&#8217;s Grand Prix <strong>89 points behind championship leader Antonelli<\/strong>, following his sprint retirement and the Italian&#8217;s fourth-place finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/verstappen-denies-hamilton-first-f1-pole-in-three-years-with-late-singapore-lap\/\">complete Singapore GP qualifying results<\/a><\/strong> are available in <strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong>, alongside the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/singapore-gp-schedule-changes-after-rain-chaos-when-are-qualifying-and-the-race\/\">updated Singapore GP schedule<\/a><\/strong>. <strong>GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/strong> follows the latest <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/\">Formula 1<\/a><\/strong> news throughout the Singapore GP weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>George Russell says his Mercedes lost performance after being rebuilt following Saturday&#8217;s sprint accident, despite showing competitive pace earlier in the Singapore GP weekend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020317814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"George Russell","42wp_featured_image_credits":"Mercedes","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[{"id":22,"location":""}],"footnotes":"","42wp_breaking_news":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[17,314,16,248],"42wp_author":[22],"class_list":["post-3765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-george-russell","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-mercedes","tag-singapore-gp","42wp_author-jp-nascimento"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3765"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3766,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3765\/revisions\/3766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020317814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3765"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=3765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}