Russell Faces Likely Back-of-Grid Start in Singapore
George Russell must take a new power unit in Singapore after his engine failure in Malaysia, triggering a grid penalty that will send him to the back of the field and widen his deficit to teammate Kimi Antonelli.
Penalty Confirmed After Sepang Failure
George Russell will take a new power unit for the Singapore Grand Prix after his engine failure during the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. [1] The Mercedes driver has no engines remaining in his season allocation of four, so the change will incur a grid penalty that drops him to the back of the field for Sunday's race. [2]
Engine penalties do not apply to the sprint race on Saturday. The penalty stems directly from the failure that ended Russell's race while running third, five laps from the finish. [3]
Impact on Title Hopes
Russell trails teammate Kimi Antonelli by 84 points with seven rounds remaining. The back-of-grid start on the Marina Bay street circuit, where overtaking is limited, further reduces his chances of closing the gap. [1]
Mercedes had planned to introduce the new engine later, possibly with an upgrade, but the Sepang failure forced the earlier change. [2]
Related reading
- [1]Russell faces another blow with likely back of grid start in Singapore (reuters). Accessed 2026-10-06.
- [2]George Russell: Mercedes driver set to start Singapore GP from back of grid due to penalty caused by Bahrain GP engine failure (sky-sports). Accessed 2026-10-06.
- [3]George Russell's F1 engine nightmare to continue with Singapore GP grid penalty (espn). Accessed 2026-10-06.