Mercedes confirm Singapore Grand Prix tweak despite Red Bull's Max Verstappen fears

Mercedes have announced a one-off livery for the Singapore Grand Prix to celebrate title sponsor Petronas' 50th birthday. This reveal follows news that Red Bull have cancelled their own special design for Sunday's race due to weight concerns with the RB20.

The Silver Arrows have swapped the silver on the nose and sidepods of the W15 for the iconic Petronas 'emerald green' for a refreshing twist on their 2024 design. "The livery looks incredible," said Lewis Hamilton after the announcement.

"I can't wait to see it on the car in the garage tomorrow and then to get behind the wheel on Friday. I am sure the fans will love seeing it up close and it will shine brightly under the lights of Singapore."

Toto Wolff will now hope that the new livery brings better fortunes after a difficult weekend in Baku. The Brackley-based outfit were battling Red Bull for the title of the third-fastest team around the streets of Azerbaijan with McLaren and Ferrari a step ahead of their rivals.

George Russell snuck his way onto the podium after inheriting two positions from the Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz crash on the penultimate lap, but Hamilton was only able to finish in P9 behind both Williams drivers after starting from the pit lane.

Fortunately for the Mercedes duo, they can expect improved performance in Singapore, although the same cannot be said for Max Verstappen and Red Bull, who are now on a seven-race winless streak, losing significant ground to Lando Norris and McLaren in their respective championship fights.

The Milton Keynes-based outfit have even been forced to take drastic measures ahead of what promises to be their toughest Grand Prix weekend of the season, cancelling a fan-designed livery scheme for the next two events due to weight concerns.

In a statement released on Tuesday, they explained: "Unfortunately, when we came to the testing phase of what some REBL CUSTMS designs could look like in real life on the RB20, we found the paint used to create these bespoke, full car takeover liveries added unforeseen and undue weight to the bodywork of the RB20.

"As I'm sure you can imagine, any additional weight compromises performance and the team are continuing to prioritise making this car as competitive as possible for the remainder of the 2024 season.

"As a result, it is with a heavy heart that we must let you know the team has made the decision to not run the REBL CUSTMS liveries on the RB20 at the Singapore and United States GPs."