George Russell names likely venue for next power unit grid penalty

The Mercedes driver was forced to start from the back of the grid after having to take a grid penalty at the Singapore Grand Prix because of his engine failure a week ago at the Sepang International Circuit. Before the weekend, Russell had already warned that this would not be his last penalty

Speaking after the race, Russell said a second engine-related penalty is still on the way. This time, though, Mercedes gets to pick the circuit instead of having it forced on them.

“[We’re] maybe looking at Vegas, but it will be there at some point. But now we've got the choice to take it when we wish, and we'll be choosing a slightly easier track than this one," he told Sky Sports F1.

Mercedes never wanted to take the penalty at Marina Bay. Before the weekend, Russell told the media that if he could pick, he would have only picked Singapore ahead of Monaco.

The original plan was to fit the new engine alongside Mercedes' upgrade. "We were waiting to take the engine penalty with the ADUO update, but obviously, unfortunately, we've had to take it here," Russell explained.

The failure in Malaysia also left him short on mileage. As Russell explained, drivers get four engines a season, so each one has to cover about six races, and seven races remained when he made the change. That is why a second penalty cannot be avoided.

Russell's weekend started badly before the race. He crashed out of the lead in Saturday's Sprint, and his comeback on Sunday only went so far.

He also admitted that Mercedes has lost its edge to Red Bull while the team works to understand its recent upgrade. "The goal right now is to try and improve the car, because we were very much the dominant team for this whole season and, you look at the recent races, Red Bull have been very much the best," he said.

Kimi Antonelli finished third in Singapore and now leads Russell by 102 points. That puts the Italian on 340 points and Russell on 238.

Six rounds are left, so 150 points are still available. If Antonelli leaves the United States Grand Prix in Austin with 125 points in hand, he will be champion with five rounds to spare.