Mercedes Unveil Special Petronas Livery for Sepang Return as Toto Wolff Confirms Major Upgrade Package

• Mercedes will carry a special green and black livery honouring title partner Petronas at this weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
• Toto Wolff confirmed the team will bring an upgrade package to Sepang, calling it “another step forward” for the championship-leading W17.
• The race marks Formula 1’s return to Malaysia for the first time in nine years, a venue with deep history for Mercedes through its Petronas partnership.

A Livery Built on Nine Years of History

Mercedes has unveiled a one-off livery for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, swapping sections of its usual black bodywork for shades of green that match the colours of title partner Petronas. The W17 will carry the design throughout the weekend at the Sepang International Circuit, the track hosting the rescheduled Bahrain race as Formula 1 heads back to Malaysia for the first time in nine years.

Team principal Toto Wolff said the return to Sepang carries meaning that goes beyond the results on track, pointing to a partnership that stretches back years before Mercedes ever ran as a works outfit in its current form.

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Wolff Points to a Long Relationship With Petronas

“This weekend has extra significance for us because of our long-standing relationship with Petronas,” Wolff said. “It’s fantastic to see Formula 1 returning to Sepang and we should also recognise the effort that has gone into making this Grand Prix happen. It has required strong collaboration between Malaysia and Bahrain, and that deserves credit.”

Petronas, the Malaysian state energy company, has backed Mercedes’ F1 program from 2010 and became title sponsor when the works team returned to the grid the following year. Sepang sits close to the company’s home turf, and Wolff made clear that racing there again means plenty to the people behind that long-running deal, not just to the drivers chasing points.

The circuit itself brings a fresh test after a run of street tracks and modern layouts. Wolff described Sepang as a venue that leaves nowhere for a car to hide.

“Sepang is a demanding circuit that asks every question of the car,” he said. “You need performance in the high-speed corners, good traction, strong tyre management and consistency in hot, challenging conditions. It is one of the more complete tests on the calendar.”

A Fresh Upgrade for a Championship Run

Alongside the livery, Wolff confirmed Mercedes will introduce a new upgrade package for the W17 at Sepang, the team’s latest attempt to answer the pace shown by McLaren and Ferrari in recent races. Kimi Antonelli arrives in Malaysia leading the drivers’ championship by 66 points from teammate George Russell after Russell’s win in Baku closed the gap, and Mercedes has spent recent weeks working out how much further development the W17 should get against the pull of next year’s car.

“Our focus is on understanding the package quickly, executing the weekend well, and aiming to put ourselves in the fight at the front,” Wolff said of the new parts arriving in Malaysia.

The update marks the second major package Mercedes has brought after the middle of the season, following a similar step introduced around the Canadian Grand Prix. Wolff has previously acknowledged that Mercedes cannot match the development budgets of McLaren and Ferrari at this stage of the year, making the timing and effectiveness of each new part especially important with eight rounds remaining in the title fight.

Returning to a Track With Real History

Sepang hosted the Malaysian Grand Prix 19 times between 1999 and 2017, and its return to the calendar this weekend comes only as the original Bahrain Grand Prix could not be held in Sakhir amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Malaysia stepped in as a replacement venue, with the event still carrying the Bahrain Grand Prix name, with Bahrain continuing to fund the race.

For Mercedes, the swap has turned into an opportunity to mark the occasion properly rather than simply turning up. The special livery is a one-weekend design rather than a permanent change, but it reflects how much the team wanted the Sepang weekend to stand out on a calendar otherwise dominated by newer circuits in Madrid, Las Vegas and Miami.

Petronas itself has a long connection to the circuit beyond its F1 sponsorship. The Petronas Towers dominate the Kuala Lumpur skyline a short drive from Sepang, and the company’s backing of Malaysian motorsport predates its Formula 1 involvement by years. Wolff’s comments cast this weekend as something of a homecoming for that side of the operation, separate from the championship math playing out on track.

What Sepang Means for the Title Fight

The timing of the upgrade puts extra scrutiny on how it performs. Mercedes has held the fastest car for most of 2026, but recent races have shown McLaren and Ferrari closing that gap on more conventional circuits, and Sepang’s mix of high-speed corners and long straights will test whether the new parts restore the advantage Antonelli and Russell have enjoyed for most of the season.

Antonelli has already said he wants to put a scrappy weekend in Baku behind him, while Russell arrives with genuine momentum after ending Antonelli’s run of finishing ahead of him in five straight races. Whatever result the green and black W17s produce this weekend, Wolff’s message was that the upgrade and the livery both point toward a team eager to make the most of a rare trip back to Sepang.

A Circuit Known for Heat and Tyre Punishment

Sepang’s reputation among drivers and engineers has always centred on its combination of heat, humidity and tyre wear, a mix that Mercedes will have to manage on top of introducing new parts to the car for the first time. Long straights connect a middle sector full of fast, flowing corners, and the layout traditionally rewards a car that can carry speed through direction changes without overheating its rear tyres.

That combination could work in favour of whichever team gets its new parts working correctly by Friday practice. A car that arrives underprepared for the tyre demands at Sepang can lose more time there than at almost any other circuit on the calendar, which is part of why Wolff was careful to describe the priority as understanding the upgrade quickly rather than simply bolting it on and hoping for the best.

A Rare Chance to Race in Front of Petronas

Beyond the championship implications, this weekend gives Mercedes a chance to perform in front of the market that has underpinned its Formula 1 program for well over a decade. Kuala Lumpur sits a short drive from the circuit, and Petronas staff and local fans will get a rare opportunity to watch the team they sponsor race on home soil, something that has not been possible with the track off the calendar from 2017.

For a team fighting to keep both its drivers ahead of McLaren and Ferrari, the extra motivation of racing in green in front of Petronas is unlikely to change the physics of tyre degradation or straight-line speed. But Wolff’s comments made clear that Mercedes wanted this weekend to feel different from a normal round of the championship, and the livery is the most visible sign of that intent.

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Written by

Jack Renn

Jack Renn is an editor at F1 Chronicle and a veteran motorsport journalist with 25 years of experience covering Formula 1 and international motorsport. A member of the Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive (AIPS), the global body representing accredited sports journalists, Jack has spent his career reporting from paddocks and press rooms across the F1 calendar. His work spans race analysis, technical insight, and in-depth features, giving readers authoritative coverage grounded in decades of firsthand experience at the highest level of the sport.

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