Russell may start from the back of the grid at the Singapore Grand Prix — Sky Sports News

Mercedes driver George Russell may start Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix from the back of the starting grid. The reason will be a planned power unit replacement, which will exceed the season’s permitted limit of four such units for one driver.

Replacement after retirement in Malaysia

As Sky Sports News reports, Russell is scheduled to receive a new power unit on Friday in Singapore. This is linked to a unit failure late in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, when the Briton was running third and was forced to retire.

Russell’s Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli finished second in that race and increased his lead over the Briton in the drivers’ standings to 84 points. Seven rounds remain until the end of the season.

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Updated power unit

Mercedes had previously planned to install a new power unit for Russell at the United States Grand Prix at the end of October. It was supposed to include an update that the team could use under the FIA Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities system.

The updated unit may now be prepared as early as the Singapore round. According to Sky Sports News, this could help Russell avoid additional penalties for using new components in the remaining races of the season.

The Singapore round will take place in a sprint weekend format. If Russell receives a penalty, it will apply only to Sunday’s Grand Prix and not to Saturday’s sprint. Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord said the team had established the mechanical nature of the power unit failure, but was still determining its root cause.