Mercedes issue worrying George Russell battery update

Mercedes

'Catastrophic failure' - Mercedes issue worrying George Russell battery update

Mercedes have issued an update on Russell's battery

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 29 May 2026 21:55

Mercedes F1 team have issued a potentially alarming update on what caused a premature end to George Russell's Canadian Grand Prix.

Russell was battling hard with team-mate and championship rival Kimi Antonelli in the main race, managing to keep the young Italian at bay, but on lap 30, his W17 came to a halt.

The Brit had won the sprint race the day before, but his retirement from the main race allowed Antonelli to take a commanding victory, his fourth consecutive grand prix win.

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It means that Antonelli now leads the drivers' championship by 43 points as the pair prepare to resume their battle in Monaco next weekend.

F1 HEADLINES: FIA rule can stop driver swap, Mercedes battle crosses line

What was wrong with Russell's Mercedes?

Now, Mercedes technical director James Allison has revealed what the problem was for Russell, but rather worryingly, he also admitted that they still don't know why it happened.

“It was an engine kill caused by a failure in the battery which just suffered a catastrophic failure a third of the way into the race,” Allison said in Mercedes' debrief.

“We can see enough at the end of the race that the battery was fairly unhappy with some heat damage and we’ll have to figure out in the coming days and weeks exactly what caused it and put it right.”

Russell's anger

After losing out to Antonelli in China, Japan and Miami, Russell was keen to put it right at statistically one of his favourite tracks.

And he did everything in his power to do exactly that, taking two pole positions, winning the sprint race and leading the main race throughout the weekend.

But it was the machinery that he was driving that has ultimately cost him 25 points in his championship fight, and Russell's anger was clear for all to see.

The Brit slammed his fists against the car, and threw his headrest out of the cockpit in anger, something which was noted by the race stewards.

He was handed a suspended fine and subsequently issued a public apology.

F1 Mercedes George Russell Canadian Grand Prix James Allison