Antonelli’s fourth place was the first relatively bright moment for the Mercedes upgrade introduced in Malaysia but over which the team has question marks.
Although the data shows there is more downforce than the previous specification, which Russell is using this weekend, it has proven difficult to access.
In this context, the fact that Antonelli is only 0.189 seconds from pole might seem a promising step forward after being only seventh in sprint qualifying on Friday, although the upgrade was still expected to offer more performance than has been the case so far.
Russell, who crashed in the sprint at the end of the first lap, said he took part in qualifying “mostly just to make sure the car felt like it did yesterday after the crash, but it wasn’t quite the same.”
He added: “I had good pace yesterday. We were in the top three every lap I did. And today I wasn’t in the top five at any point in the session, so we have to figure out why.”
McLaren were hoping to take a step forward this weekend after struggling in the last two races, but fifth and seventh places mark little progress for the world champions, despite flashes of promise throughout the weekend.
Norris said: “At the end of the day we are where we should be. Nothing has changed so there’s no reason for us to suddenly be on pace. I could put some good bits together but the car is just too much of a challenge, I must feel like I’m almost crashing to get into a purple sector but you just can’t do that, the tires don’t survive, the car is too difficult to be in that perfect limit when it’s fast.”
Norris addressed the incident with Piastri on the final lap of the sprint race, when an attack from the Briton in turn five led to them colliding and turning what had been fourth and fifth places into an eighth for Norris and a DNF for Piastri.
Norris said: “There are two sides. One is what the stewards say and it’s fair reasoning, no one is to blame.
“But I apologized because it was always me attacking, as I had the right to do. If I was sitting there and being annoying as I should be, nothing would have happened. So really, it’s still my fault but I deserved to go for the space and I still believe I had the right to.”
Gn headline
