![\"Russell](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-26-034728.png\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGeorge Russell will escape a grid penalty, despite having to change his engine in Hungary Image: Fox Sports<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGeorge Russell will escape a grid penalty, despite having to change his engine in Hungary Image: Fox Sports<\/p>\n
Russell was instructed to stop at Turn 1 after completing his final Q3 lap, with his stranded Mercedes triggering a yellow flag during the closing seconds of the session.<\/p>\n
Mercedes initially identified a loss of water pressure before further inspections confirmed the internal combustion engine needed to be replaced ahead of Sunday\u2019s race.<\/p>\n
The team will fit Russell\u2019s fourth ICE of the 2026 season, keeping him within the permitted allocation and allowing him to avoid a grid penalty.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring George\u2019s final lap in Q3, we detected a loss of water pressure on his car and instructed him to stop as a precaution once he had completed the lap,\u201d a Mercedes spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing further inspection, we have elected to change his power unit ahead of tomorrow\u2019s race, moving to his fourth unit of the season and thus within his season allocation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the change is also being made to replace a damaged component with one of the same specification, George will incur no grid penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russell\u2019s fourth engine is the final one he can use without automatically receiving a grid penalty, placing him on the same number of units as teammate Kimi Antonelli.<\/p>\n
The failure is believed to have been triggered when Russell struck the kerbs at the exit of Turn 4 during his final attempt, with the vibrations causing the leak inside his power unit.<\/p>\n
Russell said the issue sent water onto his rear tyres and contributed to a sudden drop in temperature, ruining a lap which had initially felt promising.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a water leak, hit a bump in Turn 4,\u201d Russell explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lap was feeling good until then and then suddenly the lap wasn\u2019t. I didn\u2019t think much of it, and the team told me the water was spraying over my tyres.<\/p>\n
Verstappen spinning, Russell stopping on track, Lewis parking at the P1 board!<\/p>\n
It was a chaotic end to qualifying \ud83d\ude2e#F1<\/a> #HungarianGP<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/tD2JTERvr4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Formula 1 (@F1) July 25, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as we saw it in the data, the water leak, suddenly my tyre temperatures got really cold on the rear.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I don\u2019t think much more, top three definitely not possible, but maybe a few positions higher would have been there.\u201d<\/p>\n Russell later likened the problem to having water sprayed directly at his tyres as he attempted to complete the lap.<\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t really affect anything, although there was a water leak and we saw on the tyre temperatures that water was spraying on the tyres during my last lap, so my last lap was rubbish,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s maybe a reason for it because it was like a water pistol being sprayed at the tyres, which doesn\u2019t necessarily give you more grip.\u201d<\/p>\n Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff confirmed the engine had been damaged after Russell rode over the kerb.<\/p>\n \u201cGeorge was unlucky with what looked like a water leak, so it was an underwhelming session,\u201d Wolff said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a water leak that appeared when he was riding over a kerb.\u201d<\/p>\n Russell had already struggled to challenge at the front before the technical problem, with Mercedes unable to reproduce the form which had secured every pole position during the opening part of the season.<\/p>\n Lando Norris ended that run by taking pole for McLaren, while Antonelli qualified fourth and Russell finished seventh.<\/p>\n Russell will start ahead of his teammate, however, with Antonelli later awarded a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow under yellow flags<\/a>.<\/p>\n Russell believed Mercedes\u2019 difficulties were linked to its inability to generate sufficient tyre temperature over a single lap, although the characteristics could prove more favourable during the race.<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth is that this whole weekend, we haven\u2019t really had the pace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve looked very strong in the race pace. Did we strike the right balance between the Quali set-up and the race set-up is maybe the question we\u2019ll have answered tomorrow. Just struggled to get the tyres switched on all day.\u201d<\/p>\n The Briton pointed to Mercedes\u2019 long-run performance on Friday as evidence that the team could still be more competitive across the grand prix distance.<\/p>\n \u201cYesterday we were a second off in Qualifying practice but in the race pace we were the quickest, which tends to say you\u2019re not getting enough temperature in the tyres for that Qualifying lap,\u201d Russell said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut then in the race when you want to keep the tyres cooler, that\u2019s where it pays off. This is a track where it\u2019s very difficult to overtake so as I said, perhaps we haven\u2019t struck the right balance.<\/p>\n Maybe tomorrow when we\u2019ve got good pace, fingers crossed, we\u2019ll say we have.\u201d<\/p>\n Norris ends Mercedes streak with stunning Hungary pole<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t