George Russell has been forced onto his fourth Mercedes power unit of the season after a water leak caused him to stop on track during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The issue emerged after he rode over the kerb at Turn 4 at the end of Q3, as [reported by Crash.net](https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1101820/1/mercedes-reveals-issue-behind-george-russell-stoppage-hungary-f1-qualifying).
"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 said: "George was unlucky with what looks like a water leak. An underwhelming session. The water leak appeared when he was riding over a kerb."
Mercedes confirmed it elected to change Russell's power unit, moving him onto his fourth unit of the season. As this is within the permitted allocation for 2026, he will incur no grid penalty. However, if Russell requires a fifth power unit at any point, that will trigger an automatic grid drop.
Russell, who starts sixth after Kimi Antonelli's three-place grid penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags, was measured about his race prospects: "Time will tell if we struck the right balance between the qualifying setup and race setup. It's going to be difficult to overtake. It would have been nice to be higher up."
Fifty points behind Mercedes team-mate Antonelli in the drivers' championship, Russell heads into the final race before the summer break knowing both Mercedes drivers are already on their fourth power unit, making a post-break penalty likely.
Sources
