George Russell learns whether he’ll need a new engine after Mercedes find ‘anomaly’ in his data

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Mercedes now believe they have found the root cause of George Russell’s frustration, after examining his engine’s data to discover why he has lacked power in recent races.

Russell grew increasingly frustrated across the past two rounds of the 2026 F1 season at the British and Belgian Grands Prix. While teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli fought for the win at Silverstone and did win at Spa, the Briton was convinced that his W17 was carrying an issue.

Mercedes failed to understand Russell’s straight-line speed problems at Silverstone, despite team boss Toto Wolff admitting after the British GP that his data proved he had an inherent issue. Their confusion also continued at Spa and Russell again hit out at his power problems.

Is George Russell fighting with one hand behind his back, or is Kimi Antonelli just too good?

Antonelli extends his lead in the standings to 44 points after Spa!

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Mercedes have found a fault in the management code for George Russell’s engine

Russell blamed Mercedes’ engine for his crash at Spa, as the 28-year-old was a sitting duck down the Kemmel Straight as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton flew past out of Raidillon. He had to try an ambitious lunge around the outside under braking to try to stay ahead of at least Hamilton, who inadvertently sent his compatriot into a race-ending spin.

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Russell retiring from the Belgian GP at Les Combes also carried the added blow of it costing Mercedes a chance to prove once and for all that they have now found the ‘anomaly’ in his engine’s software. The Silver Arrows feel they finally found the cause after qualifying at Spa.

That is according to Motorsport.com, which reports that Mercedes have found an ‘anomaly’ in the software within Russell’s engine. But Mercedes and Russell will need to wait until the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on September 4-6 to test their fix on another high-speed circuit.

Mercedes found the fault ‘very deep’ within the management code for Russell’s engine after ruling out a simple power delivery issue. Russell’s straight-line speed in Spa’s first sector had largely matched Antonelli’s in qualifying but he regularly lost out throughout the final sector.

Russell’s problem was that his engine wrongly anticipated him using more electrical energy, so he consumed more power earlier in the lap and paid for it later on. Mercedes have now implemented a fix to prevent a repeat, and do not believe that Russell needs a new engine.

George Russell will not need a new engine to resolve his recent power problems

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F1’s trip to Monza in September now marks a date with destiny for Mercedes and Russell to see whether their fix for his engine code works. This week’s Hungarian Grand Prix and then the Dutch Grand Prix on August 21-23 will not test Russell’s engine enough to verify the fix.

Russell will at least be relieved that Mercedes’ power unit division in Brixworth believes he does not need to take a new engine to address his recent problems. The 2026 title hopeful will draw a grid penalty if he requires a new energy store or a new control electronics over the remaining 12 rounds of the campaign, having already used his permitted three of each.

Mercedes can still fit a brand new internal combustion engine (ICE), turbocharger, MUG-K, exhaust and ancillary component in Russell’s car without him receiving a grid penalty. The King’s Lynn native has so far used three of his permitted four ICEs, three out of four turbos, two of his three MGU-Ks, three of his four exhausts and five of his six ancillary components.