New power unit required for George Russell after Hungary Grand Prix qualifying
26th July 2026Mercedes’ George Russell has confirmed he will need to change his power unit ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix after a water leak.
Feature image credit: Mercedes F1
At the end of Saturday’s qualifying session, Russell qualified seventh overall and immediately stopped out on track, and it was revealed to be a result of a water leak in his car.
Russell has confirmed it was a problem that occurred on his final lap, with the Briton describing it as “a water pistol being sprayed at the tyres”. He stopped out on track at the end of qualifying, before turn one, as a precaution.
However, the Mercedes driver has confirmed that once the car got back to the garage, the problem was more severe. As a result, the championship contender will need to take a new power unit ahead of Sunday’s race.
“It certainly wasn’t the easiest of sessions,” Russell said. “We suffered a water leak on our final lap, and we stopped as a precaution once we’d finished our effort. Unfortunately, once we got the car back to the garage, we found that the damage was quite severe and we will have to take a new Power Unit ahead of [Sunday’s] race.”
Aston Martin Q2 appearance ‘a step in the right direction’ at Hungary Grand Prix
It marks yet another problem for the Brit, having endured several reliability woes in what is his first championship-contending season at Mercedes, with a power outage in Canada and more recently, a lack of power at last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
However, according to reports, this latest problem is a cracked sump after running over the kerbs around the Hungaroring.
Fortunately, this new power unit will be Russell’s fourth of the year, meaning he will not incur a grid penalty at this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. However, it will be his final engine under his 2026 allowance, meaning the requirement of another engine in the second half of the year will result in a grid penalty.
Despite qualifying seventh, Russell will start the race behind Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and ahead of his championship rival and teammate, Kimi Antonelli, after both drivers were slapped with grid penalties after qualifying.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Aston Martin Q2 appearance ‘a step in the right direction’ at Hungary Grand Prix
- Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton hit with Hungary Grand Prix grid penalties
- Lando Norris pips Lewis Hamilton in final Hungarian Grand Prix practice
- Pirelli claims ‘uncertainty’ of Hungary Grand Prix tyre strategies after Friday’s action
- Might Malaysia be making a shock return this season?
- Alonso weighs in on new Aston Martin upgrades ahead of Hungarian Grand Prix
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
