George Russell: Water leak! Engine change! Only 7th on the grid in qualifying!

It was a rather chaotic final phase of qualifying ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix: first, Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) spun – and then George Russell suddenly came to a halt on the track. Two yellow flags. Russell standing next to his car: a sight that Formula 1 fans are now quite familiar with. But this time, it wasn’t an engine or battery problem.

Water was dripping onto Russell’s tyres

George Russell explained after the session: “We had a water leak. I hit a bump in Turn 4. Up until then, everything had felt fine and I didn’t think anything of it at first. Then suddenly the lap didn’t feel right anymore. And then my team told me there was water on my tyres. We saw in the data that the temperature of my rear tyres was dropping.” A different kind of cooling – the bad sort.

His team then told him over the radio to pull in as a precaution. But neither that nor the yellow flag caused by Verstappen’s spin had a negative impact on him. Russell was defiant: “No, the flag wasn’t a problem. I had water.” So Russell finished in 7th place. However, he had to admit: “The top three would definitely not have been possible.”

Engine change for Russell – but no penalty

Was the engine affected? Fortunately, it seems not, according to Russell immediately after the session: “I think it’s fine, but the team will check to see if that’s really the case.” A little later, however, his team announced that, to be on the safe side, they would be replacing the power unit before the race. This will be his fourth engine of the season, so it’s still within the permitted limit. Furthermore, the change is being made to replace a damaged component of the same specification. Consequently, Russell will not receive a penalty for this.

And what are the prospects for the Grand Prix? Russell: “Our assessment on Friday after the second practice session was that we were off the pace in qualifying but had the fastest race pace. That shows it’s not a car problem, but a tyre problem. But starting from seventh on the grid, it’s going to be difficult.”

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