George Russell has said he was “beyond disappointment” after a retirement from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia dealt his title chances a critical blow.
The Mercedes driver was running in third place with six laps to go when he suffered a power unit failure behind a late Safety Car, forcing him to retire from the race.
His teammate and title rival Kimi Antonelli went on to finish in second place, extending his lead over Russell in the championship by 18 points to 84.
It was Russell’s second retirement of the season due to a power unit failure, following a race-ending battery issue while leading the Canadian Grand Prix in May this year.
With seven races scheduled for the rest of the season, the result in Malaysia means Russell’s title chances are all but over.
“I mean, you’ve almost got to laugh,” Russell told Sky Sports. “It’s, you know, beyond disappointment. It’s just so many times this season it’s happened.
“Yeah, it’s a real shame. Of course it’s a real shame, but just keep on fighting, you know, just keep on trying to go. The podium, of course, looked very certain.
“Solid race, not amazing race, but solid race. Yeah, not the first time, so I’m pretty used to this feeling and these questions, let’s say.”
Asked if he felt his championship chances were over, Russell added: “I don’t need to say I think it’s gone or whatever, but of course it’s exceptionally unlikely, and that’s just the reality.
“I knew if I wanted to come back, I needed luck on my side. Unfortunately, I had luck not on my side.
“So, you know, a three-point loss today [if Russell had finished third] being behind Kimi turned into an 18-point loss. And of course, if he was on the other side, it would have been an 18-point gain.”
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said the failure added to a disappointing weekend for the team in which a major upgrade to the car failed to deliver the expected performance.
“I’m so massively annoyed, and not in a happy place,” Wolff said. “First of all, you know, we didn’t have the speed that we were hoping to have before the weekend, so there’s a lot of homework to be done in order to recover, which I’m sure we will.
“Then the race literally went, if you consider the fight with Lewis [Hamilton] behind, went against us, you know.
“PU [power unit] failure with a few laps to go to the end with George, which is terrible for his championship, and not good at all for our constructor points. So, as much as I love to be here [in Malaysia] when I look at the pure race it was one of my worst experiences, to be honest.”
Mercedes remain 151 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, while Antonelli is 106 points clear of the nearest non-Mercedes rival, Lewis Hamilton, in the drivers’ standings.
Despite the comfortable margins, Wolff said he was concerned reliability issues could still cost his team a championship victory.
“This overarching topic, the DNFs, that could cost us dearly, also for the remaining seven races,” Wolff said. “A championship is quickly turned around against you, or for you, if you have a DNF, and that’s why that can’t continue.”
