Russell at risk of 'double whammy' grid penalty
George Russell could face a further “double whammy” hit following his Malaysia retirement if his Mercedes Formula 1 power unit cannot be fixed.
The Mercedes driver had looked on course to take a podium finish at Sepang before he was forced to stop his car five laps from the chequered flag with a suspected engine problem.
The stoppage was a big blow to his already slim world championship hopes, as it meant the gap between himself and team-mate Kimi Antonelli has opened up to 84 points with just seven races remaining.
But worse than the setback in the standings is that the failure could further hurt his chances of beating Antonelli in the next races.
Russell is on the edge in terms of mileage with his current pool of engines, and he had been holding out for a switch to a fresh version until an expected upgraded Mercedes specification appears at the United States Grand Prix.
Mercedes is set to make use of opportunities under F1’s ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) rules to bring a new power unit homologation to Austin for all its cars.
But if Russell’s Malaysia engine is broken and cannot be fixed, then it will mean he would face the possibility of back-to-back engine penalties if he did not want to finish the season with a power deficit to Antonelli.
That is because he would need to take a fresh power unit in Singapore to get through this weekend, which will incur penalties, and then take a further hit in the following event in the United States for the ADUO step.
Mercedes still needs to properly analyse Russell’s power unit to find out the cause of his problem, but deputy team principal Bradley Lord admitted there could be some longer-term consequences.
“Yes, there may be a double whammy effect there after such a gut-wrenching blow,” he said. “It was devastating to see him have to pull off as he did.”
Lord said that there was no immediate answer as to what had triggered the issue, but he hoped it would not take long to understand.
“He came on the radio behind the safety car and said the PU started to sound funny,” he said. "We saw sensors then misbehaving and it was clear we had to pull the car over and we'd had a failure of some sort.
“We still need to understand what it means for his pool because he's not rich in low-mileage power units either. So that may mean we need to alter what had been our previous plan."
Russell described what he experienced as a “sudden failure” as he acknowledged that this had been a season where things were getting away from him.
Asked about any remaining title hopes, Russell said: “I knew that if I wanted to come back in the championship, I needed luck on my side, it wouldn't just be good performances.
“But here we are. Not only do I not have luck on my side, I've got bad luck on my side. I'll just keep fighting weekend by weekend, but of course it's exceptionally unlikely.”
