George Russell has admitted Mercedes needs "more time" to get on top of the two specifications of car now in use at the team, with the Briton ready for a difficult race starting Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix from the back of the grid.
Russell qualified sixth at Marina Bay, but a power unit change outside his allocated pool will see him dropped to the rear for the race.
Knowing he would start from the back heading into the weekend, Russell has used Mercedes' older-specification of car, while teammate Kimi Antonelli, who qualified fourth, continues to run the new package.
Despite having sets of data from both specifications, Mercedes is still searching for a consistent read on performance.
Antonelli showed encouraging pace through qualifying compared to Friday practice, but Russell made clear the team is far from satisfied with where the new parts currently leave them.
Discussing whether Mercedes has clear answers on the two specifications of car, Russell told select media, including RacingNews365, that it had been positive to see Antonelli more competitive on Saturday than on Friday.
"It was positive to see Kimi sort of more competitive [on Saturday] than [on Friday]," said Russell. "However, we weren't exactly lighting the timing screen on fire.
"As a team, we're still not satisfied with where we are with the new package, and I think we recognise we need to make some set of adjustments to compensate for those changes.
"So maybe we can find a way to make it work and be fast. But right now, yeah, we need more time."
George Russell unsure on Singapore recovery possibilites
With his grid penalty confirmed, Russell's focus has shifted to damage limitation from the back of the field at a circuit not known for easy overtaking.
Asked where he hopes to progress to in the race, Russell said he was hoping to get into the points, but conceded the task would be far from straightforward.
"Yeah, hoping to get into the points. It's going to be very challenging," added Russell. "Kimi, obviously, had one race starting in 19th and won, and another race starting in 16th, where he was only P10 with 10 laps remaining, or whatever.
"So, same driver, same car, but very different outcomes. So, to answer your question, I really don't know."
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