George Russell makes ‘big concern’ admission over recent Mercedes F1 reliability
Originally published by Motorsportweek
George Russell has shared his concerns over Mercedes’ works power unit reliability after Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s DNF at the Formula 1 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix hands the German marque its first defeat of 2026.
The Brackley-based team‘s stronghold on the 2026 campaign came to a spluttering stop at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, on Sunday.
Antonelli, who came into the race weekend on a five-race hot winning streak, retired from the event after an agonising engine failure.
Russell, on the other hand, who had started the 66-lap race from pole, lost out on both, strategy and pace, to Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton who took a historic maiden win for the Maranello-based squad at the chequered flag.
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Mercedes had been the team to beat throughout the six rounds run so far – with Russell and Antonelli sharing the P1 accolades amongst themselves.
Therefore, Barcelona was the first time that Mercedes had lost under F1’s latest era.
George Russell calls Mercedes F1 reliability a “big concern” after F1 Barcelona GP loss
Antonelli was the second engine-related DNF for the German marque in three races, notwithstanding power unit failures for its customer team McLaren in the recent past.
Russell had bowed out previously from the Canadian GP after a suspected electronics issue.
Reflecting back on the race, Russell revealed that the recent reliability troubles for Mercedes HPP (High Performance Powertrains) was a “big concern”.
“I think Lewis would have come through regardless, but he obviously jumped us with the Virtual Safety Car, and I got fortunate with Kimi’s failure as well,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“So, it’s a shame to see how the race ended for him and obviously for us as a team and as HPP, we’ve had a few failures recently, so that’s a big concern for us.”
Heading into the Austrian GP weekend, Russell will be hoping for a cleaner weekend overall, especially after finding himself feeling one with the car once again.
READ MORE – George Russell unhappy with F1 Barcelona GP strategy: “I would not have pitted on Lap 13”