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George Russell‘s Q3 at the Hungaroring ended with his Mercedes stranded at Turn 1, water pooling beneath the car, and a seventh-place grid slot for Sunday’s race. It capped a qualifying session that was difficult well before the mechanical failure arrived.
Speaking after the session, Russell confirmed the car had developed a fault at the worst possible moment. “We lost water pressure and had a water leak. So when I stopped on track, the car was leaking all of the water. We don’t know where it’s come from. Fingers crossed it doesn’t affect anything for tomorrow.”
That’s a big caveat heading into the grand prix and is yet another issue suffered by the German power unit. According to Martin Bundle of Sky Sports, the engine is cracked and the driver will be taking a new power unit for the race on Sunday. If a new engine is necessary, he will receive a grid drop.
The water leak capped a session that had already left Mercedes struggling to explain a sudden and concerning drop in performance. Lando Norris took pole by 0.012 seconds over Lewis Hamilton, with the Ferraridrivers slotting in behind the papata car. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli – Russell’s own teammate – qualified fourth. Russell finished seventh, half a second off Norris’s benchmark.
Asked about the pace gap, Russell pointed to Friday as the reason.
“I think there were clues yesterday because we were probably even further off yesterday, but we had the strongest race pace – which tends to say it’s not a car problem, it’s a tire problem.” The recently relaid surface at the Hungaroring has pushed track temperatures close to 50°C, creating significant challenges in getting tires up to temperature on a single lap – something that proved a persistent problem for Mercedes across the weekend.
“We probably know we could make the car faster for qualifying trim at the expense of race performance,” Russell continued. “Time will tell tomorrow if we have made that right balance, but it’s going to be difficult to overtake.”
Passing opportunities at the Hungaroring are famously scarce, making it one of the circuits where starting position has an outsized influence on finishing order compared to most other venues on the Formula 1 schedule. With a new PU likely on its way, Russell’s Sunday will depend heavily on whether that race-pace confidence turns out to be justified.
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Speaking after the session, Russell confirmed the car had developed a fault at the worst possible moment. “We lost water pressure and had a water leak. So when I stopped on track, the car was leaking all of the water. We don’t know where it’s come from. Fingers crossed it doesn’t affect anything for tomorrow.”
That’s a big caveat heading into the grand prix and is yet another issue suffered by the German power unit. According to Martin Bundle of Sky Sports, the engine is cracked and the driver will be taking a new power unit for the race on Sunday. If a new engine is necessary, he will receive a grid drop.
Mercedes Thinks It’s Tires, Not the Car
The water leak capped a session that had already left Mercedes struggling to explain a sudden and concerning drop in performance. Lando Norris took pole by 0.012 seconds over Lewis Hamilton, with the Ferraridrivers slotting in behind the papata car. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli – Russell’s own teammate – qualified fourth. Russell finished seventh, half a second off Norris’s benchmark.
Asked about the pace gap, Russell pointed to Friday as the reason.
“I think there were clues yesterday because we were probably even further off yesterday, but we had the strongest race pace – which tends to say it’s not a car problem, it’s a tire problem.” The recently relaid surface at the Hungaroring has pushed track temperatures close to 50°C, creating significant challenges in getting tires up to temperature on a single lap – something that proved a persistent problem for Mercedes across the weekend.
“We probably know we could make the car faster for qualifying trim at the expense of race performance,” Russell continued. “Time will tell tomorrow if we have made that right balance, but it’s going to be difficult to overtake.”
Passing opportunities at the Hungaroring are famously scarce, making it one of the circuits where starting position has an outsized influence on finishing order compared to most other venues on the Formula 1 schedule. With a new PU likely on its way, Russell’s Sunday will depend heavily on whether that race-pace confidence turns out to be justified.
Continue reading...
