Russell to undergo Mercedes engine change but avoids F1 Hungarian GP grid drop

Mercedes driver George Russell will take a fresh V6 engine for the Hungarian GP following a water leak in qualifying, but will keep his seventh place on the grid.

Russell qualified a distant seventh at the Hungaroring after both he and team-mate Kimi Antonelli looked adrift in qualifying, with Mercedes struggling to keep its tyre temperatures under control.

Russell's second lap was ruined after he crossed the kerbs at the exit of Turn 4, with the impact from the vibrations causing a water leak inside the Mercedes power unit.

Team principal Toto Wolff says Russell's engine was "done", with Mercedes having to replace his power unit for Sunday's grand prix.

Mercedes provided further details in a subsequent statement. "During George’s 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.

"Following further inspection, we have elected to change his power unit ahead of tomorrow’s race, moving to his fourth unit of the season and thus within his season allocation."

Russell's fourth internal combustion engine is the final one allowed before incurring grid penalties, moving onto the same number of engines as team-mate Antonelli. Both drivers will therefore likely face a grid drop sometime after the summer break.

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images

But as Mercedes is replacing a damaged component with one of the same specification, Russell avoids a pitlane start and gets to keep his seventh place on the starting grid. "We had a water leak, hit a bump in Turn 4," Russell explained. "The lap was feeling good until then and then suddenly the lap wasn't. I didn't think much of it, and the team told me the water was spraying over my tyres.

"As soon as we saw it in the data, the water leak, suddenly my tyre temperatures got really cold on the rear. So, I don't think much more, top three definitely not possible, but maybe a few positions higher would have been there."

Meanwhile team-mate Antonelli, who qualified fourth, is facing a trip to the stewards over alleged speeding under yellows as he passed Max Verstappen's stationary Red Bull during his final qualifying lap.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris handed Mercedes its first grand prix qualifying defeat of the season, taking pole ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

However, Hamilton received a three-place grid drop for impeding Norris' McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri in Q3, meaning Antonelli would move up to third if he escapes a punishment of his own.