Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the team’s performance at Sepang was “one of my worst experiences” after a difficult race that included a power unit failure for George Russell and left Mercedes short of the pace it had expected. Lewis Hamilton recovered from a significant delay at the start to finish third, while Kimi Antonelli increased his championship lead over Russell and Hamilton.

Wolff said Mercedes had introduced a major car upgrade for the weekend but appeared to gain little from it. “First of all, we didn’t have the speed that we were hoping to have before the weekend,” he told Sky. “So there’s a lot of homework to be done in order to recover, which I’m sure we will.”

The race’s timing and safety interruptions added to Mercedes’ frustration, Wolff said, referring to the team’s battle with Hamilton. “Then the race literally went - if you consider the fight with Lewis behind - went against us. We had such an advantage. Two VSCs or one VSC, two safety cars. I mean, you couldn’t be more unlucky.”

Russell retired with only a few laps remaining after a power unit failure. It was his third grand prix retirement of the season, and he now trails Antonelli by 84 points in the championship. Wolff said the failure also hurt Mercedes’ prospects in the constructors’ standings.

“To make things worse, a PU failure with a few laps to go to the end with George which is terrible for his championship and not good at all for our constructor points,” Wolff said. “So as much as I love to be here when I look at the pure races, one of my worst experiences to be honest.”

Wolff also said he was angry and unhappy after the result. “I’m so massively annoyed and not in a happy place,” he told Sky. His comments followed a race in which Hamilton salvaged third despite the early delay, while Antonelli widened his advantage over both Hamilton and Russell.

The report was published on Oct. 4, 2026, at 12:13 by Keith Collantine of RaceFans. The article also listed related coverage: Lando Norris said “I guess it’s my fault” as stewards investigated a near-miss under the Safety Car; Isack Hadjar had “no battery” to defend from Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in the final laps; Max Verstappen took his first win of 2026 in Malaysia after power unit faults delayed the start; and a 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia race result and championship points report. RaceFans invited readers to support the site for an ad-free experience and offered a daily email with its latest stories, with no marketing or ads, advising subscribers to check their junk folders. Collantine, a lifelong motor sport fan and former motoring journalist, founded the site in 2005 as F1 Fanatic and began running it full-time in 2010.

Based on reporting by RaceFans.