A new engine, and a penalty that comes with it
George Russell has barely left Sepang behind and the bill has already arrived. The Mercedes driver will start Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix from the back of the grid, Sky Sports reported earlier today.
The reason is simple arithmetic. Each driver gets four power units for the season. Russell is about to go past that number. A new unit goes onto his car on Friday in Singapore, and the rear-of-grid penalty follows automatically.
It all traces back to the Bahrain Grand Prix, moved to Malaysia this year. Russell was running third when his power unit gave out and forced him to park the car a handful of laps from the flag. Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord called it “clearly a mechanical failure on the power unit side”, while the team continues to look into the exact cause.
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Why Singapore makes it worse
Few venues are less forgiving for a driver stuck at the back. Marina Bay is a tight street circuit where passing is rare, and a weekend that already includes a sprint leaves little room to recover lost track position.
The championship picture adds weight to it. Russell started the Sepang weekend 66 points behind teammate Kimi Antonelli, who took second place while Russell’s car sat parked. The gap now stands at 84 points, and a quiet Singapore would stretch it further.
A possible silver lining for Mercedes
There is one consolation. Mercedes had planned to introduce an upgraded power unit at the United States Grand Prix, and that version could now be brought forward to Singapore. If so, Russell would take the penalty once rather than pay again a few races from now. It is a small gain on a weekend that otherwise offers very little.
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