Mercedes Confirms George Russell Power Unit Change After Hungarian GP Qualifying Stoppage

Mercedes identifies water-pressure loss on Russell’s car

Mercedes has confirmed that George Russell’s late Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying problem was caused by a loss of water pressure, prompting the team to ask him to stop on track as a precaution after he completed his final Q3 lap.

Russell had already described the failure immediately after qualifying, explaining that it felt like “a water pistol being sprayed at the tyres”. The issue affected the temperatures of his tyres during the decisive lap and left him seventh on the grid, more than half a second behind polesitter Lando Norris.

“It didn’t 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,” Russell said.

The Mercedes driver also acknowledged that the team had not shown the outright pace it wanted throughout the weekend. While he believed the car looked stronger over race distances, Mercedes had struggled to switch the tyres on during qualifying, leaving an unresolved question over the balance between single-lap performance and race preparation.

Power unit changed ahead of the race

After inspecting the car, Mercedes decided to replace Russell’s power unit for race day. The change moves him onto a fourth unit of the season, although the team confirmed that it remains within his 2026 allocation.

Mercedes also stated that no penalty would be applied because the replacement is being made to substitute a damaged component with another unit of the same specification. That decision preserves Russell’s qualifying position before a separate grid change works in his favour.

Russell will gain one place at the start after team-mate Kimi Antonelli received a three-place drop for failing to respect a yellow flag during Q3. The penalty is covered in more detail in Kimi Antonelli’s Hungarian Grand Prix grid penalty.

Mercedes faces a mixed race-day picture

The power unit change removes one immediate reliability concern, but Russell’s own assessment highlighted the larger challenge facing Mercedes. The car’s race pace offered encouragement, yet its qualifying performance remained compromised by tyre preparation and the water leak that disrupted the final attempt.

Starting from sixth rather than seventh gives Russell a modest recovery, but the team’s race-day potential will depend on whether its stronger long-run form outweighs the weaknesses exposed over a single lap at the Hungaroring.