Mercedes confirm George Russell is set for grid penalty at Singapore Grand Prix after engine failure
Russell will start Sunday's race from the back of the grid, which could make it harder to close the gap to teammate Kimi Antonelli in the drivers' standings.
What we know
- Mercedes confirmed that driver George Russell is set for a grid penalty at the Singapore Grand Prix because of an unavoidable engine change after his retirement in Malaysia. [1] [2]
- The penalty is a minimum of 10 grid positions, depending on which parts are changed. Mercedes says it will mean a start from the back of the grid. [2]
- The penalty applies only to Sunday's race, scheduled for 2000 local time on October 11, not to Saturday's Sprint. [2]
- Teammate Kimi Antonelli leads Russell in the drivers' standings by 84 points, according to Formula 1. [2]
- Not yet confirmed: The exact number of grid places Russell will lose depends on which power unit parts Mercedes replaces.
Mercedes driver George Russell is set for a grid penalty at the Singapore Grand Prix after an unavoidable engine change, Formula 1 said in a post on X, citing confirmation from the team. [1]
The change follows Russell's retirement in Malaysia, where Formula 1 reported a power unit failure on the closing laps while Russell was on course for a podium finish. It was Russell's third non-scoring round of the season. [2]
According to Formula 1, Russell had been expected to take a new engine later in the year, once Mercedes introduced an upgrade under the FIA's Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities program. The damage from Malaysia forced the team to bring that change forward to Singapore. [2]
That pushes Russell past the season allocation of power unit components. Under the regulations, a penalty is applied at the first event where each extra element is used. The penalty is at least 10 positions, and more new parts mean a bigger drop. Mercedes said it will mean starting from the back of the grid. [2]
The penalty applies only to the race, scheduled for 2000 local time on Sunday, October 11. Russell can still score points in Saturday's Sprint. [2]
"George has the added challenge of a power unit penalty, which will mean starting from the back of the grid on Sunday, following the engine failure in Malaysia," Team Principal Toto Wolff said in his preview of the weekend. Wolff called it "particularly frustrating given the way he drove last weekend and the result he deserved to be fighting for." [2]
Wolff said the team would evaluate both its latest update package and its previous specification across the weekend. He described this as the final Sprint weekend of the year. [2]
Formula 1 said Antonelli leads the drivers' standings by 84 points over Russell. It also noted that Antonelli won at Monza after an engine change, charging through the field from 19th. The narrow streets of the Marina Bay Circuit make overtaking harder in Singapore. Russell won the race there last season. [2]