Antonelli arrives in Singapore 84 points clear, Russell penalized
Mercedes faces a sprint weekend at Marina Bay with a single practice session, a teammate changing engines and doubts about its upgrades.
Kimi Antonelli arrives at the Singapore Grand Prix leading the Formula 1 championship by 84 points over his Mercedes teammate George Russell, who will be penalized for fitting a new engine. It is round 17 of 24 and the last sprint weekend of 2026, according to Formula1.com.
Antonelli finished second in Malaysia. Russell retired in the closing laps with a failure attributed to the power unit, which left the Italian with 183 points still available and seven races to go. Before Azerbaijan the gap was 81 points, and it dropped by 15 there.
Russell had already used four power units this year, so a new one costs him places on the grid. Autosport reports a ten-place penalty, a figure it attributes to The Athletic; Formula1.com only says he will start from the back. The FIA has not confirmed the size of the penalty in the sources consulted. According to Autosport, Mercedes had planned for Russell to take it later, in Austin.
Bradley Lord, the team's deputy director, said it is still unclear what the change means for the rest of Russell's engine pool, which "is not rich in low-mileage power units either".
Mercedes has another question mark. Its upgrade package was meant to be worth about three tenths of a second per lap. According to Formula1.com, Toto Wolff felt that after qualifying in Malaysia it had cost a similar amount. With a single practice session before qualifying, the team will have little time to find out.
The sprint is on Saturday at 17:00 local time and the race on Sunday at 20:00, under the lights. Whether Russell's new unit is the current specification or the upgraded one is still unconfirmed.
