Russell set for Singapore GP grid penalty in further blow to F1 championship hopes

New Delhi, Oct 6 (IANS) George Russell’s dwindling hopes for a comeback in the F1 2026 title challenge are set to suffer a further blow as the Mercedes driver is set to start the upcoming Singapore Grand Prix from the back of the grid.

Russell suffered a power unit failure in the recent Bahrain GP in Malaysia, where he was forced to retire from P3 in the final laps of the rain-hit chaotic race as his partner and title leader Kimi Antonelli secured a second place behind race winner Max Verstappen of Red Bull.

As per Sky Sports, Russell is now set to take a new power unit on Friday at the Singapore GP, which will see the Brit exceed the permitted limit of four power units every season. This violation will make him start the Marina Bay Street Circuit, where he won in 2025, from the back of the grid.

Although the Mercedes driver would have happy memories of beating Verstappen last year in Singapore, the circuit is one of the worst places to start the race from the back of the grid and hunt for a strong finish.

It was initially planned that the Brit would take his inevitable penalty at the United States GP in Austin later this month, where the Silver Arrows were to bring in an upgrade to the W17.

Moreover, Mercedes’ planned upgraded power unit can be put in place for Russell in Singapore to not let the Brit take further penalties when he takes the upgrades later in the season again.

Mercedes’ deputy team principal Bradley Lord said that the team was not sure of what went wrong with Russell in Malaysia and that they are investigating the matter. “Our investigation so far, we’ve got the car back, we’ve been able to do a first inspection, and it’s clearly a mechanical failure on the power unit side,” he said in Mercedes’ race debrief video.

Mercedes were recently outdone by Red Bull in Sepang, where Verstappen registered his first win of the season. The Milton Keynes squad outperformed the Silver Arrows with their pace after they brought a major upgrade in Azerbaijan, while Mercedes also introduced a major aerodynamic upgrade to Malaysia.

Toto Wolff had called the race the “worst weekend of the season” for Mercedes, especially due to Russell’s retirement, who was in shock as his title chances took a major blow.

He was 66 points behind Antonelli coming into the Bahrain GP after winning in Baku, but is now 84 points adrift after Antonelli came second and with seven rounds remaining, Russell’s championship hopes hang by a thread.

–IANS

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