George Russell is set to start the race from the back as he deals another blow to his championship hopes at Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix due to a powertrain change.
Russell suffered a power unit failure while finishing third at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Sunday, forcing him to retire, while his Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli extended his lead over the Briton at the top of the drivers’ championship to 84 points with seven rounds remaining.
Sky Sports News Russell understands he will get a new power unit in Singapore on Friday, which will see him break his four-season mark for each driver, so he will incur a penalty that will put him at the back of the grid.
Russell was expected to have a new powerplant at the United States Grand Prix later this month, which will include an upgrade, with Mercedes taking the opportunity given to them by the FIA’s ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) system to improve their engine.
There has been some controversy over Mercedes’ engine performance being inferior to Red Bull’s by the sport’s governing body, with the Milton Keynes outfit claiming the Constructors’ Championship-dominating Silver Arrows already have the best power unit.
It is now understood that Mercedes’ upgraded powertrain could be fast-tracked for Russell to be ready for the Singapore Grand Prix, which would at least prevent him from incurring further late-season penalties for taking on more new parts.
Both Mercedes drivers have suffered power unit problems this season, with Antonelli having to start from the back of the grid at the Italian Grand Prix, where he entered from race 19 to win.
Monza is one of the easiest tracks to overtake on the F1 calendar, while Marina Bay Street in Singapore is one of the toughest.
Singapore is Sprint weekend, so Russell’s grid start will only apply to Sunday’s Grand Prix and not Saturday’s Sprint.
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Toto Wolff fumes after George Russell retires in Malaysia
Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord says he does not know what caused the Brackley outfit’s recent problems with Russell in Malaysia.
“The investigation we’ve done so far, we’ve taken the car back, we’ve been able to do the first inspection, it’s clear it’s a mechanical failure on the power unit side,” he said.
“We have yet to determine what the exact cause was, but the result was clear to all.”
Why Mercedes had their worst weekend of the season
Mercedes brought a major aerodynamic upgrade to Malaysia, its biggest since the Canadian Grand Prix in May, but was comfortably beaten by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who turned pole position into victory.
Toto Wolff described it as Mercedes’ “worst weekend of the season”, mainly due to Russell’s retirement being “unacceptable”.
However, in terms of outright pace, Mercedes were surprisingly superior to Red Bull, and Lord attributes this to a number of factors.
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Highlights of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia Sepang International Circuit
“The combination of potential updates, track temperature and track surface have interacted and led to a range of behaviors that have meant the car is not in its usual happy state, with drivers needing to throttle the car in slow corners,” he said.
“This was exacerbating tire temperature issues.
“It’s not an easy thing to overcome. It’s a bit of a 3D issue that we need to work on and then we need to figure out what steps we’re going to take going forward to make sure that we have the basic understanding that we need to understand that the update works well and that we’re going in the right direction in our development, not just for this year’s car, but for next year as well.
“It’s ongoing work at the factory and in Singapore right now to determine exactly what the plan is for the coming days and the race weekend in Singapore.”
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Take a look at the most dramatic moments from the Singapore Grand Prix
Sky Sports F1’s live Singapore GP Sprint weekend schedule
Thursday, October 8
11:00: Drivers’ Press Conference
2.00pm: Uncut Paddock
Friday, October 9
9:00am: Singapore GP Practice (session starts at 9:30am)*
11.30: Press conference of team leaders
13:00: Singapore GP Sprint Qualifying (session starts at 13:30)*
Saturday, October 10
9:00am: Singapore GP Sprint Rally*
10:00: Singapore GP SPRINT*
13:00: Preparation of the Singapore Grand Prix Qualifying stage
14:00: SINGAPORE QP CARPETS*
16:00: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook
Sunday, October 11
11.30: Grand Prix Sunday: Singapore GP build-up
13:00: SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX
3pm: Checkered Flag: Singapore GP reaction
4:00 p.m.: Ted’s notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 heads straight to Singapore for the final Sprint weekend of the season, with live track action on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. Stream Sky Sports NOW – no contract, cancel whenever you want