Mercedes have confirmed they changed George Russell's power unit ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix after a water leak brought his qualifying session to a premature halt at the Hungaroring.
Russell qualified seventh on Saturday but ground to a stop on track as he made his way back to the pits following Q3. The team identified the cause as a water leak triggered by riding over a kerb at Turn 4.
"We lost water pressure and I had a water leak," Russell told Sky Sports F1 after qualifying. "When I stopped on track, the car was leaking a load of water. We don't know where it's come from. Fingers crossed it doesn't affect anything for tomorrow."
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff added: "George was unlucky with what looks like a water leak. An underwhelming session. The water leak appeared when he was riding over a kerb."
The Brackley-based squad elected to change Russell's power unit, moving the 28-year-old onto his fourth Internal Combustion Engine of the 2026 season. Because this remains within the permitted allocation, no grid penalty has been applied. However, should Russell require a fifth ICE at any point during the remainder of the campaign, it would trigger an automatic grid drop.
Both Mercedes drivers are already on their fourth power unit, meaning a penalty for one or both after the summer break is a distinct possibility.
Russell expressed cautious optimism about his race prospects despite the setback. "We were probably even further yesterday but we had the strongest race pace, which tends to say it's not a car problem but a tyre problem," he explained. "Time will tell tomorrow if we struck the right balance between the qualifying setup and race setup."
The Briton will start Sunday's race from sixth position, benefiting from team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli's three-place grid penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags in qualifying. Russell trails Antonelli by 50 points in the championship standings heading into the final round before Formula 1's summer break.
Sources
- https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101820/1/mercedes-reveals-issue-behind-george-russell-stoppage-hungary-f1-qualifying
- https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/mercedes-provide-update-on-russells-q3-stoppage-in-hungary-as-they-confirm-power-unit-change-for-race-day.4hlXvdbTqlXAGqRpDuRY4W
