Mercedes launch investigation over 'several areas' of concern

Mercedes has highlighted "several areas" that it needs to investigate after a difficult outing at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia last weekend.

While the Brackley-based squad was competitive throughout, it was outpaced by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, who took pole position and the race victory.

Kimi Antonelli bagged second place to extend his championship lead, while George Russell walked away with zero points after suffering another power unit failure in the closing stages of the race.

Mercedes' lacklustre performance came despite the introduction of a significant upgrade package, which Wolff insisted needs more analysis to fully understand.

"Malaysia was obviously a very difficult weekend for us," Wolff said.

"We have spent the days since then working hard to understand why our performance was not where it should have been.

"We have identified several areas we need to investigate further, but F1 doesn't offer simple answers and we need more evidence before drawing firm conclusions."

With F1 returning immediately this weekend in Singapore, Wolff stated Mercedes will run both its pre-Malaysia package alongside the upgraded spec to cross-reference both iterations of the car.

"Singapore gives us an immediate opportunity to continue that work," Wolff said.

"The characteristics of the circuit are very different, and that will help us build a clearer picture of where we are.

"That is why we will evaluate both the latest update package and our previous specification across the weekend to ensure we fully understand the direction we need to take."

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Wolff weighs in on 'frustrating' Russell grid penalty

Mercedes enter the Singapore weekend already at a disadvantage as it confirmed that Russell will take an engine-related grid penalty.

While such a decision has been planned for some time, his issue in Sepang last weekend has further complicated matters and turned it into a "double whammy" penalty, as described by deputy team principal Bradley Lord.

As Russell seeks to recover his losses, Wolff has pledged that Mercedes will do all it can to get him in a position to gain as many positions as possible during the race.

"George has the added challenge of a power unit penalty, which will mean starting from the back of the grid on Sunday, following the engine failure in Malaysia," Wolff said.

"That is particularly frustrating given the way he drove last weekend and the result he deserved to be fighting for.

"Unfortunately, these things are part of the sport, and our focus now is on giving him the best possible car and opportunities to fight back through the field.

"We need to maximise this final Sprint weekend of the year, keep learning, and score the strongest result we can with both cars.

"Singapore will be an important test of our understanding and our resilience as a team."