F1 news: Russell investigation blow as Mercedes trick now illegal | F1 | Sport
George Russell has received a blow (Image: Getty)
Formula 1’s teams head to Monaco this week with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli leading the way in the drivers’ championship. The youngster took victory once again in Canada as his team continued their unbeaten run this season.
The chasing pack will hope to narrow that gap as Lewis Hamilton achieved his best Ferrari result last time out and Max Verstappen also made the podium. But Antonelli’s teammate is also part of that group of contenders, sitting 43 points behind after being forced to retire at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Mercedes have had some bad news before heading to Monaco, however, and may yet face their stiffest test of 2026, having proven their superiority. They will hope to once again top the podium and will hope Russell’s equipment will not fail him for the second race in succession.
Express Sport rounds up some of the latest Formula 1 headlines.
Mercedes investigation deals Russell blow
Mercedes have admitted that it may take ‘several months’ to complete an investigation into why George Russell was forced to retire at the Canadian Grand Prix. James Allison confirmed that Russell suffered a ‘catastrophic’ battery failure in Canada but the team do not yet know the specifics of what went wrong.
Deputy team principal Bradley Lord conceded the team’s celebrations for Antonelli were dampened by Russell’s situation. “It’s always a funny feeling when you know one car has won the race and the other one’s retired through no fault of the driver,” he said.
“It’s very hard to feel truly jubilant when you’ve seen lots of points go begging. It was absolutely no fault of George’s; he drove brilliantly all weekend and I think would have been a very worthy winner of the grand prix as well after his performance to take two pole positions and the Sprint win.
“It was a sudden kill of the ERS system on the car as he came into Turn 8 and then that did a reasonable amount of damage afterwards as well.
“We got the car back and were able to get the module out of it. It had to undergo some unusual safety procedures and then has to be shipped back actually to the UK.
“It will therefore be several months before the hardware gets back and we need to really dig through the data to understand exactly what went wrong and then work out how we try and prevent a repeat on any of the other modules in the future.”
Mercedes ‘trick’ made illegal
The Monaco Grand Prix will see new technical regulations that will close the loophole that Mercedes have taken advantage of for its power unit compression ratio. During pre-season the team appeared to have found a way to increase the compression ratio of its new engine to 18:1, with the limit in the rules being 16:1.
Russell was furious after being forced to retire (Image: Getty)
The ratio was only measured at ambient temperatures whilst the car was in the pit lane, meaning it could be greater on the track. After complaints from Mercedes’ rivals, the FIA agreed to change the regulations from June 1st, with the compression ratio now set to be measured when the engine ambient temperature is 130 degrees.
The loophole was originally expected to be closed for August 1st, thus after the Hungarian GP, but it has been brought forward to the start of the European leg of the season.
Hamilton reveals simulator plan
Lewis Hamilton will not use the Ferrari simulator ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix. The seven-time champion has been enjoying improved results in Ferrari colours in recent races and is keen to avoid the ‘risks’ involved with utilising a simulator as he looks to continue his momentum.
Asked if he will use the simulator again, in light of his successful weekend in Canada, Hamilton said: “I’m sure I will drive it at some point. I think what could be good is, for example, going back and doing correlation to this weekend so we can find out where it’s missing.
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“Because the test driver will be on there saying it’s all… they will only know what they know because they don’t get to drive – it’s only Charles and I that get to drive the car.
“So the positive of something like being able to drive the real car, go back and say, ‘This is actually what it feels like, these are the things that we’re missing,’ so that we can improve it.
“I’m always there to help the team move forward and develop it. Now whether or not I use it to prepare for another race? Probably not. There are just too many risks.
“If you look at the two best races I’ve had, I didn’t use a simulator and that’s honestly how it was. Pretty much all the championships before, except for probably 2008, I didn’t use the sim, so it’s not a necessity.
“It’s a tool that can be powerful, but, for me, I’m old school. I’m probably better without it.”
