George Russell will start Sunday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix five places lower than his qualifying position after Mercedes fitted a new internal combustion engine to his car. The decision was confirmed on Friday and marks the Briton’s second grid drop in four races and continues a season disrupted by power-unit reliability issues. Russell had already exceeded his seasonal allocation of engines. A failure that stopped him at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia forced wholesale power-unit changes in Singapore, where he served a 60-place penalty and started near the back. That left him needing at least one more internal combustion engine before the end of the year.
Mercedes has now installed the sixth ICE of the campaign on the W17, triggering an automatic five-place demotion rather than a steeper hit but the team deliberately chose Interlagos. Russell explained the thinking in a Mercedes Instagram Story: “We always had to take a grid penalty at some point between Singapore and the end of the season. We felt like this was a good place to take it. Lewis [Hamilton] had a big grid penalty here a number of years ago and did pretty well. Five places doesn’t seem that bad and we’ll try to come back through.”
Russell faces uphill battle in Brazil after Mercedes Engine Change
Hamilton’s 2021 performance at the same circuit remains the reference point. After a technical disqualification and a subsequent engine change, he started the Grand Prix from tenth and still won. The undulating layout of Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, with its long straights and multiple overtaking zones, is viewed as more forgiving than tighter venues where track position is harder to recover. Mercedes confirmed the change carries no Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities element.
For Russell the penalty is another obstacle in what has been a difficult year. Teammate Kimi Antonelli clinched the drivers’ championship at the previous round, leaving the more experienced Briton to salvage the best possible results from the final races. A strong qualifying performance on Saturday would still give him a realistic chance of fighting toward the points, provided the car has the pace to work through traffic. The five-place drop will be applied after qualifying. Wherever Russell places on the grid on Saturday afternoon, he will line up five positions further back when the lights go out on Sunday.
