Mercedes provide update on Russell’s Q3 stoppage in Hungary as they confirm power unit change for race day

Mercedes have shared some more details around George Russell’s Qualifying stoppage at the Hungaroring, with a power unit change being carried out on the Briton’s car as a result.

Russell explained after the session that an issue on his final Q3 lap led to the feeling of “a water pistol being sprayed at the tyres”, leaving him back in seventh position – more than half a second away from 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,” he commented.

“I think there’s maybe a reason for it because it was like a water pistol being sprayed at the tyres, which doesn’t necessarily give you more grip. The truth is that this whole weekend, we haven’t really had the pace.

“We’ve looked very strong in the race pace. Did we strike the right balance between the Quali set-up and the race set-up is maybe the question we’ll have answered tomorrow. Just struggled to get the tyres switched on all day.”

Following those comments, Mercedes have confirmed that they detected a loss of water pressure on Russell’s car and instructed him to stop on the track as a precaution, once his final Qualifying lap had been completed.

Upon further inspection, the decision was made to change Russell’s power unit for race day, moving him onto a fourth unit of the season – and therefore still within his 2026 allocation.

Mercedes also stated that as the change is being made to replace a damaged component with one of the same specification, no penalty will be incurred.

Russell will gain a spot on the starting grid instead, with team mate Kimi Antonelli being given a three-place drop for a yellow flag breach in Q3.