George Russell could face another “double whammy” after his retirement in Malaysia if his Mercedes Formula 1 power unit cannot be repaired.
The Mercedes driver had hoped for a podium finish at Sepang before being forced to stop his car five laps from the checkered flag due to a suspected engine problem.
The stoppage was a blow to his already slim world championship hopes, as it meant the gap between him and teammate Kimi Antonelli widened to 84 points with just seven races remaining.
But worse than the setback in the standings, this failure could further harm his chances of beating Antonelli in the next races.
Russell is at the limit in terms of mileage with his current engine fleet, and he was holding off on switching to a new version until an expected upgraded Mercedes specification appeared at the United States Grand Prix.
Mercedes is set to take advantage of the opportunities presented by F1’s ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) rules to bring new powertrain homologation to Austin for all of its cars.
But if Russell’s Malaysian engine is broken and cannot be repaired, it will mean he faces back-to-back engine penalties if he is not to finish the season with a power deficit to Antonelli.
Indeed, he would have to take a new power unit in Singapore to get through this weekend, which would impose penalties, then take another blow at the following event in the United States for the ADUO stage.
Mercedes have yet to properly analyze Russell’s power unit to discover the cause of his problem, but deputy team principal Bradley Lord admitted there could be longer-term consequences.
“Yes, there can be a double whammy after such a heartbreaking blow,” he said. “It was devastating to see him have to succeed the way he did.”
Lord said there was no immediate answer as to what triggered the problem, but he hoped it wouldn’t take long to figure out.
“He came on the radio from behind the safety car and said the PU was starting to look funny,” he said. “We then noticed that the sensors were misbehaving and it was clear that we had to stop the car and that we had had some sort of failure.
“We still need to understand what this means for its pool, as it is also not rich in low mileage powertrains. So this may mean we will have to modify what had been our previous plan.”
Russell described what he experienced as a “sudden failure” as he recognized it had been a season where things were getting out of hand.
Asked about the remaining title hopes, Russell said: “I knew if I wanted to get back into the championship I needed luck on my side, it wouldn’t just be good performances.
“But here we are. Not only do I have bad luck on my side, but I also have bad luck. I will continue to fight weekend after weekend, but of course that is exceptionally unlikely.”
Gn sports
