George Russell has revealed that he faced a potential double grid penalty if he had taken a power unit change for this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver explained that the decision to postpone the engine change was not merely strategic but a consequence of technical regulations and component update timing.
Mercedes had previously fitted a fresh power unit to Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s car at the Italian Grand Prix, choosing Monza to facilitate position recovery. The strategy paid off: Antonelli won the race from 19th on the grid. Russell was initially expected to take a similar engine change in Baku, but the plan changed because Mercedes’ ADUO engine upgrade is due in a few weeks.
“Yeah, it won’t be this weekend,” Russell said of the engine penalty. “I will take a penalty slightly further down the line. There is a bit of a deficit, but that is swings and roundabouts over the season because all the drivers have new engines at different points. So, one race you’ll have a fresher one, one race you’ll have an older one. This one is coming to the end of its life.”
Russell also disclosed that he took a new turbocharger in Hungary, meaning if he had taken a fresh power unit in Azerbaijan, he would have faced an additional grid drop. “Because we have the ADUO update coming, I would have had to take another penalty because in Budapest, when I had to change my power unit, I also had to change my turbo. So, if I took one now, I would have had to take another one.”
This decision reflects the complexity of power unit management under current hybrid regulations, where each component has a separate lifecycle and penalties. Mercedes must balance short-term performance with long-term technical updates. With ADUO coming, delaying the engine change until after the update allows Russell to serve only one penalty instead of two.
In the championship standings, Russell arrives in Baku 81 points behind his team-mate Antonelli, who leads the title race. Although his title hopes are all but over, Russell insists he will not change his approach. “I’m going to keep fighting every single race until it’s mathematically impossible. But it doesn’t change how I go about my job. I want to try and win every single race and put it on pole every single race. That’s my goal.”
With Mercedes’ fluctuating performance this season, Russell’s focus on pure performance is key. He acknowledges that the large points deficit is not a consideration right now. “Performance is the biggest priority,” he stressed. The Baku race will test whether Russell can remain competitive without taking unnecessary risks.
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