Russell set to be hit with F1 grid penalty for Turkish GP

Williams Formula 1 driver George Russell is set to be hit with a grid penalty for this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix due to exceeding power unit elements.

Heading into the first F1 race at Istanbul Park since 2011, Williams confirmed that Russell was moving onto his fourth Mercedes internal combustion engine (ICE), turbocharger and MGU-H for the 14th round of the 2020 season.

Given that all three components exceed the maximum limits allowed for the season, Russell will receive a grid drop and is likely to start Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix from the very back of the grid.

Russell has also taken a fourth MGU-K, though he will not be penalised for that component as it is within his permitted allocation for 2020.

Williams had been forced into an early PU change on Russell’s car after the Briton suffered an engine failure in his FW43 back at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

Russell said in the pre-race press conference that he was hoping to make the most of Istanbul’s flowing circuit and overtaking opportunities.

“It has a lot of character, and a window of opportunity overtake with different lines to follow,” he explained.

“A new track for everybody, and these cooler conditions, and the brutal turn eight, it’ll be interesting to see how the tyres react. That can throw up some surprises, so hopefully we can be there to make the most of it.

“Naturally our car is always suited the high downforce, shorter tracks such as Budapest because we have naturally had a lot of drag on the car, which makes us very slow on the straight even though we have a monster or Mercedes engine in the back,” he added.

“But generally we’ve always been very strong over a single lap, whereas Alfa Romeo seems stronger in the race. We are understanding and learning more and more about our car recently, and what we have unlock has helped us a lot more across all types of circuits.

“But I do still believe we have the edge on the Saturday. And Alfa just have the edge on us on a Sunday. So we need to keep on working, but all ultimately the three of us are quite away behind the midfield.”