George Russell believes Mercedes needs to make set-up changes ahead of qualifying for the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix after admitting the W17 was “off the pace” during Friday practice at Sepang.
Russell finished second in FP1 before dropping to seventh in FP2, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli ended the two sessions fifth and eighth.
Mercedes arrived in Malaysia with a major upgrade package, but both drivers struggled to extract their expected performance across the opening day.
Russell Says Mercedes Needs Set-Up Changes
Russell finished FP1 just 0.383s behind Max Verstappen, who topped the opening session for Red Bull. Charles Leclerc then led FP2 for Ferrari, with Russell ending the session 0.492s away from the benchmark.
The Briton enjoyed his first experience of Sepang but admitted Mercedes has work to do after struggling with tyre degradation in the hot and humid conditions.
Russell told F1 TV: “It was really cool driving this circuit, I’ve never driven here before – it’s really an iconic place.
“So that was cool but with these conditions tyre deg is huge for everybody and the cars are operating in a very different window.
“I think as a team we just haven’t got the car quite where we need it to be and we need to make some set-up adjustments as we’re a bit off the pace.”
Mercedes Has More Pace to Find In Bahrain GP
Mercedes’ FP2 positions did not tell the full story. Russell and Antonelli both made mistakes in the final sector during their soft-tyre runs, leaving neither driver with a representative lap on the fastest compound.
Their stronger FP1 performance offered a more positive indication, particularly after Russell finished second behind Verstappen.
Mercedes has brought seven updated components for the W17 this weekend. Much of the package focuses on the floor, with changes also made to the rear suspension, rear corner and bodywork.
Russell said he could feel the additional performance from the upgrades, but tyre overheating and degradation made judging their full impact difficult.
“I’m feeling the downforce in some of the corners, but with this amount of tyre overheating and tyre degradation that kind of trumps everything.
“So we just need to get on top of that overnight. That’s more of a set up rather than the upgrade itself and go from there.”
Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren Provide Mercedes Competition In Malaysia
Mercedes has dominated much of the 2026 season, but Friday at Sepang suggested Russell and Antonelli face a close fight with several rivals.
Verstappen topped FP1 and remained competitive in FP2 despite setting his best time on the medium tyre. Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar also impressed by finishing third and second across the two sessions.
Ferrari ended Friday with Leclerc fastest overall, while McLaren made progress during FP2 as Lando Norris finished third and Oscar Piastri took sixth.
Russell therefore expects a difficult battle as he targets his sixth pole position of the season.
“Verstappen looked very fast and the race pace of McLaren looked very quick, but never say never,” said Russell.
Mercedes now faces an important overnight set-up job before FP3 and qualifying, with tyre management appearing to be one of the biggest areas for the championship leaders to address.
