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# Russell to take grid penalty at F1's Brazilian GP
- URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/russell-serving-another-f1-engine-grid-penalty-in-brazil/
- Published: 2026-11-06T11:13:39.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-06T11:47:30.000Z
- Description: George Russell will take a five-place grid penalty for this weekend's F1 Brazilian GP, his second grid drop in four races
- Author: Josh Suttill
- Tags: Formula 1, #george-russell, #mercedes, #brazilian-grand-prix, #secondary_feature_2

George Russell will take a five-place grid penalty for this weekend's Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix for a new internal combustion engine, his second grid drop in four races.

Russell had a 60-place grid penalty for a suite of power unit component changes in Singapore last month, a necessity after he retired with a power unit failure in Malaysia the week before.

He knew then that he would have to take another grid penalty before the end of the year, and Mercedes has chosen Brazil to do so at Interlagos this weekend, with Russell confirming the decision on Mercedes' Instagram account.

"We always had to take a grid penalty at some point between Singapore and the end of the season," Russell explained.

"We felt like this was a good place to take it. Lewis \[Hamilton\] had a big grid penalty here a number of years ago \[in 2021\] and did pretty well.

"Five places doesn't seem that bad and we’ll try to come back through."

Driving for Mercedes in 2021, Hamilton was disqualified after topping sprint qualifying for a technical non-conformity (a misaligned DRS), yet charged from 20th to fifth in the sprint.

Back then, the sprint result dictated your start position for the grand prix but, after taking a new internal combustion engine, Hamilton was dropped back to 10th on the grid.

He still comfortably won the grand prix from there.

So Brazil is a logical choice for Russell to take the engine penalty, one that was originally going to coincide with the debut of Mercedes' Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities-assisted (ADUO) engine.

But the debut of that ADUO engine is uncertain, and there's no guarantee it will appear before the end of the season, with a maximum of three races remaining after Brazil.

Mercedes does not want to rush its introduction and will only introduce it when it is sure it is ready, with the drivers' championship already sealed and the constructors' championship all but guaranteed.