F1 News: Mercedes confirm major George Russell penalty for upcoming race

Mercedes

Mercedes confirm major George Russell penalty for upcoming race

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Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Friday 28 August 2026 18:45

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George Russell will be hit with a significant grid penalty in the second half of this F1 season, his Mercedes team have confirmed.

The Brit's team-mate Kimi Antonelli will start from the back of the grid in his home grand prix at Monza next time out after Toto Wolff confirmed that Mercedes will choose that race to give him a new engine outside of his season-long allocation, and the team has confirmed that Russell will be hit with a similar penalty – although it won't also be at Monza.

Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord discussed the dilemma on the team's Nu Silver Arrows Radio Show this week, admitting that the rest of the season will be a balancing act between pace, reliability, and grid penalties for refreshing some of those limited parts.

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Antonelli's healthy lead at the top of the drivers' standings provide him with a reasonable cushion to take the grid drop this weekend – although he'd probably rather it wasn't at his home grand prix – but for Russell, 59 points behind his team-mate, every point matters the rest of the way.

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Mercedes chief: Both drivers will take penalties

"We have not finalised where George will take his penalty, but both drivers will be affected," Lord said in the latest episode of the show, released on Friday.

"George retired in Canada, Kimi retired in Barcelona, and George also stopped at the end of qualifying in Hungary. Had that happened in the race, the impact could have been much greater.

"We must manage the remaining events so that both cars reach the end of the season with the freshest and best-performing hardware possible. It is a constant trade-off between the risk of running high-mileage components and the points cost of taking a grid penalty and recovering through the field."

How will Mercedes decide when Russell takes grid penalty?

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explained on the podcast that the team's confidence in their machinery could have a major impact on when Russell takes his big penalty hit – if it is only one.

"Every race adds mileage and learning across Mercedes and the customer teams," he said. "Components are checked continually, and we assess whether previous containment measures have solved the underlying issues.

"Our confidence in running a power unit to a sixth or seventh event may be higher in a few races than it is today, so the plans are reviewed after every weekend."

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F1 Mercedes George Russell