Mercedes confirmed the reason for the technical problem that hampered George Russell in qualifying for the Formula 1 Hungarian GP. The Briton, who will start from seventh position, explained that a water leak compromised his decisive lap in Q3 and also forced him to stop the W17 immediately after the session.
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According to Russell, the problem started after hitting a bump at turn 4. Until that moment, the lap had been competitive, but the car’s performance suddenly dropped.
“We had a water leak. I went over a bump at turn 4. The lap was good until that point and then suddenly it wasn’t. At the time, I didn’t think much about it,” he said.
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“The team told me that water was being thrown onto the tires, because as soon as we saw the leak in the data, the rear tire temperature dropped significantly. I don’t think I would have fought for the top 3, that definitely wasn’t possible, but maybe I could have gained a few more positions,” he explained.
Asked about a possible impact on the power unit’s reliability for Sunday’s race, Russell avoided making predictions. “I think it’s all fine at the moment, but we’ll only be sure once we check everything. Either it’s all good, or it’s not. We’ll find that out tonight,” he concluded.
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