BUDAPEST, Hungary -- George Russell will get the benefit of a new Mercedes engine without a grid penalty as he looks to fight back from sixth at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Russell stopped on track at the end of Q3, where he had only been able to secure a spot on the second row of the grid and finished in seventh, but will start in sixth -- one place ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli who was given a three-place grid penalty.
"We just had a weird water leak. Hit a bump at Turn 4," Russell explained later. "The lap was feeling good until then and then suddenly the lap wasn't. So I didn't think much of it.
"The team told me the water was spraying over my tyres. Because as soon as we saw it in the data, the water leak, suddenly my tyre temperatures got really cold on the rear.
"I don't think much more... Like top three was definitely not possible, but maybe a few positions higher would have been there."
On Saturday evening, Mercedes confirmed they had fitted a fresh power unit in his car as a precaution.
Formula 1 drivers can use a maximum of four different engines through a season before grid penalties are applied.
The team later said in a 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."
A fresh engine is always a benefit to a Formula 1 car, although Budapest's tight and twisty Hungaroring is known as one where outright straight-line speed has less of an impact verses aerodynamic design.
Russell will hope it makes a difference -- he goes into the race 50 points down on Mercedes teammate and runaway championship leader Antonelli, who qualified fourth but will start in seventh.
Antonelli was given a three-place grid penalty at the Hungarian Grand Prix for failing to slow sufficiently for yellow flags in qualifying.
The weekend has seen Mercedes struggle to match the pace of McLaren or Ferrari so far.
McLaren driver Lando Norris' pole position was the first this season not claimed by either Russell or Antonelli.
"I mean, we expected it also because they all brought upgrades for rear wings," Antonelli said. "McLaren brought a new floor, so we haven't brought a upgrade for downforce in a long time. So, we knew."
Antonelli expects a closer fight on Sunday, with Mercedes' race pace looking much better through the week's three practice sessions.
- Hungarian Grand Prix: Lando Norris upsets Ferrari and Mercedes with blistering pole
- Kimi Antonelli handed three-place grid penalty, starts Hungarian GP seventh
- Lewis Hamilton handed grid penalty after impeding Oscar Piastri in qualifying, starts Hungarian GP in fifth
"Our long run looks strong," he said. "Definitely quite a bit stronger than single lap. So, I think this weekend we lacked on single lap rather than race pace. So, definitely something to look at.
"Hopefully tomorrow we can get a good start, and then just try. We'll try to do our best to pull out something."
