The eerie Mercedes deja vu in Malaysia – and what it means for Russell’s F1 title dream
It was one of Formula One’s great cries. “Oh no, no!” exclaimed race leader Lewis Hamilton, as he pulled his car to the side of the Sepang circuit after a Mercedes engine failure in 2016. It was a costly 25-point loss, handing the initiative to teammate Nico Rosberg, who would go on to win that year’s hotly contested world championship.
And astonishingly, a decade on, as F1 returned for a one-off ‘Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia’ on Sunday, it was an eerie sense of deja vu for the title protagonists, Mercedes and their incandescent team boss Toto Wolff.
Ten years ago, Wolff’s head was in his hands as he witnessed the rear of Hamilton’s car catch alight – with team adviser and F1 legend Niki Lauda aghast behind him. Now, the Mercedes team principal witnessed the championship hopes of George Russell, however slim they may have looked, fall despairingly out of reach at pretty much the same section of Malaysian racetrack. And this time, it was an iconic fist-bang reaction on the table from the beleaguered Austrian in the garage. Russell produced no cry; just an “ahhhhh” reaction over team radio.
When F1 went to Malaysia in 2016, it was heartbreak for Lewis Hamilton 💔 pic.twitter.com/jP3sJHJk7b
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) August 1, 2026
“I’m so massively annoyed… not in a happy place,” Wolff told Sky Sports afterwards, despite Kimi Antonelli claiming a second-place finish which puts him 84 points clear in the championship race. With just seven scheduled rounds remaining and 183 points left on the table, it now feels a near-inevitability that the 20-year-old Italian will become the youngest champion in the sport’s 76-year history.
“A PU [power unit] failure for George is terrible for his championship and not good for our constructor points. As much as we like pure races, it’s one of my worst experiences to be honest.”
It was Russell’s third DNF of the season – and second through no fault of his own. The Briton also suffered an engine failure from the lead in Canada in May and, given he was running in third on Sunday, the notoriously reliable Mercedes HPP [High Performance Powertrain] has remarkably cost him 40 points this season. As he rightly said afterwards, the intra-team title battle would look a whole lot different if fortune swung in the other direction.
“You’ve almost got to laugh, I’m beyond disappointment,” he said after his retirement with five laps remaining. “If I wanted to come back, I’d need luck on my side. Unfortunately, I’ve had no luck on my side. A three-point loss turns into an 18-point loss. If the shoe is on the other side, it’d have been an 18-point gain. A real shame.”
It should be stated that Russell’s billing as second-best this season is not purely down to rueful luck. Antonelli has been consistently quicker throughout the first two-thirds of the season and proved so again in Malaysia as, a week on from a dominant weekend in Azerbaijan, Russell was suspiciously and bafflingly short on speed in qualifying and the race.
Russell now trails Antonelli by 84 points (Reuters)
Even once Sunday’s grand prix eventually got going, following a 90-minute delay due to torrential downpours (fair enough) and a software bug (not fair enough), Russell was no match for his teammate. Still, a double podium behind race winner Max Verstappen, claiming his first victory of the 2026 season nine years on from winning the last race at Sepang in 2017, looked relatively straightforward for Mercedes.
Driver standings after Bahrain GP in Malaysia
1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 320 points
2. George Russell (Mercedes) – 236 points
3. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 214 points
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 191 points
5. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 188 points
6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 188 points
7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 128 points
8. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls) – 96 points
9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – 65 points
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 41 points
Until, out of nothing, Russell’s engine gave up the ghost.
“This has been our worst weekend of the season,” Wolff added in a team statement later on Sunday. “It hurts, and I feel incredibly sorry for George and everyone in the team. George drove an outstanding race and was on course for a very strong result, but we let him down. The reality is that has happened too often this year, and that is not acceptable.”
The situation presents an oddly downbeat atmosphere in a team who have a 151-point lead over Ferrari and whose golden boy is on the cusp of his maiden title. It will be all the more keenly felt, too, given Mercedes’ title sponsor, Petronas, are based in Kuala Lumpur, 40 miles down the road.
Russell and Antonelli regularly visit the city’s twin towers for sponsorship events, usually in the build-up to this weekend’s night race in Singapore. Yet this year, in unique circumstances, they were handed the opportunity to compete at something amounting to a home race. And yet, the overwhelming mood was one of sorrow and regret.
Toto Wolff (left) described Malaysia as Mercedes’ ‘worst weekend of the season’ (Getty)
The weekend as a whole, however, was a success for Formula 1 as it looks to adequately fulfil a calendar impacted by the conflict in the Middle East. Bahraini and Malaysian authorities worked excellently over just 10 weeks to put the spectacle on and, despite traffic issues in and out of the circuit, the 15-turn track produced an engrossing spectacle throughout. A route back onto the regular schedule would be welcomed by all. Except, perhaps, Mercedes.
What does it mean for Russell’s title dream? It now seems pretty close to unfathomable. In all likelihood, he will now need Antonelli to DNF in at least two of the final seven rounds. Even then, he needs to put together a streak of victories, not dissimilar to that seen from Lando Norris a year ago. But it does not look forthcoming and time is running out. That is, if it has not done so already.
Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.