George Russell’s title hopes suffered a major blow on Sunday at Sepang, when he retired from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia while running third.
It was also not the first time he had parked this season before the checkered flag was waved, with Mercedes suffering some reliability issues with its powertrain as it gets to grips with the new generation of cars.
Leaving Malaysia, Russell finds himself with an 84-point deficit to his teammate after Kimi Antonelli finished Sunday’s race in second place and collected 18 points for that result. This is the biggest lead the Italian has enjoyed all season, and which promises to be decisive with only 183 points remaining at stake.
Russell was lined up behind Max Verstappen and Antonelli as the peloton followed the safety car round at Sepang, but just as the race was about to restart, he stopped and parked at the exit of the pit lane, briefly holding his helmet in his hands before getting out of the car.
“It’s unfortunately happened too many times this season, and yes, that’s exactly where we are,” a dejected Russell said after the race.
So how many points has Russell potentially lost in reliability in 2026?
Canada – Russell’s first retirement
A strong start to the year with victory in Australia followed by a Sprint victory in China slowly came to a halt for Russell, who finished second in the Shanghai Grand Prix behind his teammate, before coming back just short of the podium in Japan and Miami.
But he returned to his best in Montreal, taking the pole and the sprint victory, as well as the pole for the Grand Prix as well. In the race he was fighting with Antonelli and had 25 or 18 points, the Mercedes being the class of the field.
Such was their wheel-to-wheel battle, with the lead changing hands more than once, it is difficult to assess how many points Russell lost when his car stopped – a battery failure later blamed. But he was at worst in the running for second place, and the 18 points that go with it.
Estimated points lost: minimum of 18
Hungary – A water leak and an anti-stall
In Budapest it was clear that the Mercedes was not the class of the field. But even so, Russell was only able to qualify seventh after the first stints of Q3 and then remained in that position thanks to a water leak, which forced him to stop on track.
He actually started the race sixth, ahead of his teammate who received a penalty, but further problems arose when his anti-stall activated at the start. Russell watched the entire peloton go by, on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult.
He put in a good recovery run to finish seventh, while his teammate moved up to third as Antonelli continued to extend his lead in the standings.
As for the number of points Russell lost, it is difficult to estimate, but with Antonelli starting behind while ahead of both Ferrari cars, it is not inconceivable that Russell could have done the same and moved back to fourth place.
Estimated points lost: six (based on fourth place)
Bahrain – Another powertrain problem
Mercedes has had a number of PU issues this year, not only on its own cars but also on those fitted to customer teams. But all the recent DNF results for McLaren and Alpine have been caused by accidents rather than reliability.
As such, it looked like Mercedes was back in control, until that moment at Sepang. Russell had been overtaken on track, on merit by Antonelli who had moved away from his teammate, so P2 was unlikely for the Mercedes man.
But Russell seemed certain to finish third and the 15 points that came with it. Instead, his afternoon ended on the back of a moped, with Toto Wolff subsequently calling it “one of my worst experiences.”
There’s more damage to come too, with Mercedes confirming the Briton is set to start the Singapore Grand Prix from the back.
Estimated lost points: 15
China and Japan – Still problems for Russell
It is more difficult to assess whether Russell lost any points in China, but he encountered an issue in Q3 during qualifying that saw him stop briefly on track. He was able to start and make his way to the pits, coming out to run a quick run towards the end of the session.
It turned out to be a gearbox problem, but it’s unclear whether, without it disrupting his momentum and pace, he could have taken pole. He nevertheless managed to finish second behind his teammate in the race.
In Japan, Russell began to feel unexplained vibrations at the rear of his car during qualifying, with the team changing his front wing configuration to compensate. This left him with an untested setup, a difficult car to drive, and more problems than answers.
He managed to qualify second behind his teammate, but finished fourth after bad luck in the race with the timing of a safety car. A battery deployment problem also cost Charles Leclerc a place. “I had a harvest limit that prevented me from recharging my battery,” he explained afterwards.
But again, it’s impossible to judge what would have happened without those vibrations in qualifying, and how much the adjusted settings compromised his grid position and perhaps his race.
Estimated points lost: Potentially five in Japan if he had finished ahead of Leclerc
Belgium – More at stake at the start
At Spa, Russell qualified fourth, while his teammate started from pole. But other issues derailed his start, a deployment issue that left him bogged down off the line.
This left Russell to end up with Lewis Hamilton, with the contact between the former teammates being enough to send the Mercedes into the gravel and out of the race.
How many points did he lose? With so many cuts and changes in the order at Spa, this one is an impossible result to qualify. But in a race where his teammate took another victory, it was clear that Mercedes had the pace to challenge for the podium or at least to maintain their starting position of fourth.
Estimated points lost: 12 (based on fourth place)
Add up all of these items, which, it should be noted, are estimates, and you get a total of 56 points. However, it’s safe to say that DNF results from Canada and Sepang ultimately cost Russell 33 points this year. Not enough to get closer to his teammate, but enough to make this Drivers’ Championship a little more competitive.
What about Antonelli’s reliability?
Antonelli suffered a retirement at Barcelona-Catalonia while second, after overtaking his teammate on track. Just as he appeared to be running out of time to chase down Hamilton for victory, he lost an almost certain 18 points when his car suffered a power cut.
This DNF promoted Russell from third to second place, earning him three more points.
At Silverstone, Antonelli was charging on fresh tires late on, trying to close out a better-shod Charles Leclerc for victory. The crowd was deprived of an epic showdown thanks to a left front wheel shield failure, which forced Antonelli into several pit stops.
He also took a time penalty for track violations as he struggled to keep his car on the road and lost what was likely a P2 finish, coming home outside the points. Russell would finish second, so instead of extending his lead in the standings by three points, Antonelli saw his teammate eat 18 points into that gap.
So while Antonelli also lost probably 36 points this season due to reliability issues, Russell gained a position twice thanks to his teammate’s issues. Swings and roundabouts, but what is certain is that Mercedes left points on the table this year.
This is not surprising in a new era of regulation, where their rivals are also suffering their own problems this season. Fortunately for the Silver Arrows, they still have a considerable lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship.
Gn sports
