Mercedes Put Team First as Russell and Antonelli Face Off on F1’s Return to Sepang

While the byzantine nomenclature of this weekend’s “Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia” will have Formula One’s statisticians muttering darkly under their breath for years to come, the import of the sport’s return to the Sepang circuit remains all too straightforward at the sharp end. Complicated only perhaps by a Red Bull resurgence and an enthused Max Verstappen, determined to make his mark on the championship run-in.

The return to Malaysia for its first race since 2017 has been welcomed in F1. It is a much-liked circuit among drivers, albeit with the high temperatures and humidity making for an enormous physical challenge.

However, this is no long-term return to Sepang. It is back, as its torturously titled branding suggests, as a one-off replacement for the Bahrain GP, which was cancelled earlier this year because of the war in the Middle East. The Bahrain GP it is then, right down to the Bahraini backing, a Bahrain GP trophy and Bahraini-themed activities at the circuit but the pole and the victory will most assuredly be earned in Sepang, leading to said statisticians deploying the asterisk on their keyboard.

For the title protagonists, however, the name is moot. What matters is the race and both the championship leader, Kimi Antonelli, and his rival and Mercedes teammate George Russell want to make a mark in Malaysia. Antonelli leads Russell by 66 points with eight rounds remaining. A handsome lead but he dropped 15 points to the British driver at the last round in Baku where Russell showed the best form of his season, dominant across the weekend.

Antonelli, who made a costly error in qualifying and finished fifth, declared it his “worst” weekend and vowed to re-establish the order in Malaysia, while Russell felt a confidence and ease with the car that he has not enjoyed all season. A platform he felt from which to build a late title tilt at Antonelli.

The prospect of a comeback from Russell, applying pressure to his 20-year-old teammate who is in only his second season in F1, might put Mercedes too under pressure in managing them. A process of which they are all too aware, as the last time F1 was in Malaysia it was the first year after the Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg relationship at Mercedes had come apart with rancour. Nonetheless the team insist they will continue to allow their current pedallers to race one another.

“Does it [Russell finding form] change the dynamic? I think from the overarching philosopher’s standpoint, no,” said the team principal, Toto Wolff, earlier this week. “Because we want to give both drivers equal opportunity and to go for a championship. But the team comes first. That has always been the Mercedes philosophy.”

To that end they have brought a swathe of upgrades to Sepang, only their second major developments of the season, including adaptations to the floor, rear suspension and rear bodywork. They have been long-awaited but as ever with the first year of new regulations there is no guarantee they will simply bolt on and find lap time.

Malaysia is the first test and fine-tuning will be required given it is something of a baptism of fire, with the circuit’s heat and its abrasive, high-degradation surface making for a far from normal run-out. Indeed how the teams handle tyre degradation will probably define the race, a finely balanced test for the strategists of two or even potentially three pit stops.

For Mercedes in Friday’s practice sessions finding the right set-up and operating window to make the most of potential downforce gains was proving tricky, with Russell and Antonelli seventh and eighth in the second session.

They will likely find more pace come Saturday at which point they may have to deal with Verstappen and Red Bull, whose car has come on in leaps and bounds recently with their upgrade in Baku. Verstappen has yet to win this year and, while the title is gone, he is fiercely competitive and determined still to take the flag. The Red Bull was well balanced out of the blocks in Sepang, and Verstappen declared it “positive” and a “decent start”. Such guarded judgment is praise indeed, given how often this season Verstappen has had to wrestle with a recalcitrant car from the off.

He was not quickest in second practice with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, also showing strong form, taking the top spot from Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar by a tenth. But the Dutchman, in fourth, did not set a time doing a qualifying simulation on soft tyres. Verstappen surely has more to come and will be hungrily eyeing a shot at a win that would make it two in a row separated by almost a decade since he took the flag when it was last held in Malaysia in 2017.

A point to prove then for the four-time champion but for Antonelli and Russell it is relative points that matter and perhaps most importantly in defining the championship, who asserts themself to the greatest effect in this one-off showdown in Malaysia.