Mercedes driver George Russell is hoping to redeem himself after what happened back in the Australian Grand Prix this year. He initiated the race pretty well but could not capitalize on the good start. Russell was even leading the race for a while ahead of Max Verstappen and his teammate Lewis Hamilton. Later, in the race, due to a cylinder failure, according to Toto Wolff, the young Mercedes driver had to stop the race. A race that he could have won saw George Russell with a DNF in the end. Eventually, Max Verstappen won the Australian Grand Prix, and his teammate Lewis Hamilton secured the P2. A lot of confusion was created due to three red flags.
The race stopped frequently because of a red flag before it resumed again. Hence, there were a lot of unwanted interruptions. These interruptions led to Russell’s engine failure. However, George Russell came very close to paying a penalty as he will have to use a new engine so soon this season. Every driver has the limit of using three engines every season. And Russell will use a new engine in the next Grand Prix in the street circuit of Baku, Azerbaijan. Hence, he will face the need to use the third engine sooner than expected. However, use of new car parts comes with certain grid penalties. So, the Mercedes driver was destined to face the same in the next race at Baku. However, FIA once again brought some changes to this rule, and looks like after this, George Russell will not face any grid penalty.
George Russell Gets A Respite From Serving A Penalty
Only after the first three races George Russell had to use a new engine. Hence, he was on the brink of paying a penalty for using the total limit of engines available in the season so soon. Anyhow, to Russell’s respite FIA has approved every driver to use four engines – Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), Turbo Charger (TC), MGU-H, and MGU-K. The governing body had a meeting where they discussed about increasing the power unit elements. Hence, FIA introduced this rule after they added a qualifying session to the F1 format last Saturday. This new rule must relieve George Russell of the fear of paying the penalty.
On the other hand, Formula One is heading to have the most number of races in a season this year, with 23 Grands Prix scheduled on the calendar. Hence, this new FIA rule will make every team driver happy. There are so many teams other than Mercedes who have reliability issues on their respective cars. But Mercedes is prominently suffering from reliability issues with their W14 car. Meanwhile, the team with the fastest car on the grid at present, Red Bull, they were worried about the increase in the number of races. The new rule of four engines should make them happy as well.
Charles Leclerc May Not Be As Lucky As Russell
The new law might have relieved George Russell from paying the penalty but not Charles Leclerc of Ferrari. Leclerc faced a 10-place penalty on the grid for the Saudia Arabian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver was forced to take the penalty as he exceeded the CE (Control Electronics).
But anyway, the Ferrari team will have a little bit of respite as Charles Leclerc is already using his MGU-H engine. Furthermore, the CE and the quantity of the storage of energy will remain the same.