Mercedes will evaluate whether George Russell’s damaged engine from the Hungarian Grand Prix can be repaired to help him avoid an early grid penalty after the summer break.
Russell is understood to have cracked the sump on his Mercedes power unit after running across the kerbs at Turn 4 on his final run in Q3 at the Hungaroring.
The sump damage triggered a water leak that sprayed on to his rear tyres, and thus compromised his end to the lap before the team told him to stop as they noticed a drop in pressure.
Speaking afterwards Russell had said: “The lap was feeling good until then and then suddenly the lap wasn't.
“I didn't think much of it and the team told me the water was spraying over my tyres because as soon as we saw it in the data, the water leak, suddenly my tyre temperatures got really cold on the rear.”
Once Mercedes got Russell’s car back to the garage, an initial inspection revealed the crack and left the squad with no choice but to fit a fresh power unit to his car for the race. The power unit that was swapped out was only fitted in Austria, and included a raft of reliability improvements.
This has taken place without a grid penalty as Russell is still within his allowance for the year, but the Hungarian GP version will be the fourth and final power unit he can take before a punishment.
The early shift to the fourth engine, just one race after team-mate Kimi Antonelli also had to do the same, has left both Mercedes drivers facing almost certain grid penalties over the second half of the season – which could have a big impact on the title battle.
Russell could get a temporary reprieve though with Mercedes set to ship his damaged engine back to its Brixworth factory for a more detailed analysis to see if it can be brought back into action.
While a damaged sump sounds quite serious, manufacturers are able to implement repairs that can bring power units back into the rotation.
Many have good experience of having done this during the previous ground effect era when engines took a major battering from the super stiff cars and regularly had to be repaired after being taken out of action.
Much will depend on how big and extensive the crack is and whether or not any extra internal damage has been caused to the power unit.
But even if the damaged power unit can be repaired, taking a fresh engine at a tight and twisty track like the Hungaroring is not ideal for Russell, as the benefits from a new power unit will not be felt as much as they would be if it was introduced at somewhere like Monza.
from The Race https://ift.tt/OKHEhZY
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