Upgrades backfire as Wolff admits Mercedes going backwards

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SEPANG, Malaysia, Oct 3 : Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was left scratching his head after his team's upgrade package fell flat in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Saturday, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen claiming his first pole position of the season.

Verstappen became the first driver this year to put a car without a Mercedes engine on pole, with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton joining him on the front row at the Sepang International Circuit.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli could only manage fourth-fastest for Mercedes but will move up to third due to a five-place grid penalty for Red Bull's Isack Hadjar.

Antonelli's team mate George Russell was eighth fastest in qualifying and will start seventh on the grid.

"Very difficult to understand, we have been a little bit caught out on Friday with some car behaviour we didn't see all year. But you can say it is very hot and the tarmac is very different to other tracks," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told Sky Sports.

"We looked good in (FP3), at least with Kimi, but then a return to those issues. We are very draggy, losing time on the straights to Max, and then we have understeer in the low-speed, which we haven't seen all year."

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