MERCEDES FINDS CAUSE OF RUSSELL AND ANTONELLI RETIREMENTS
Mercedes has finally identified the cause behind the retirements of George Russell in Canada and Kimi Antonelli in Spain, after several days of internal investigation following both incidents. The team had been struggling to understand a recurring reliability problem that appeared under specific high-temperature conditions during recent races.
According to team sources, the issue is linked to overheating in the battery, particularly when the cars are running in closely packed traffic or following other cars for extended periods. These conditions forced both Russell and Antonelli to retire from their respective races.
The investigation was made more difficult by a key limitation. The battery used in Russell’s car during the Canadian Grand Prix could not be shipped back to the team’s factory in the United Kingdom for detailed analysis. As a result, engineers were unable to fully inspect the component in a controlled environment, which delayed the identification of the root cause.
Because of this missing data, the same underlying issue was not immediately detected before the following race in Barcelona. This contributed to the retirement of Kimi Antonelli in Spain, as the team was still unaware of the full extent of the problem affecting the system under specific conditions.
Once both incidents were compared and analyzed together, Mercedes engineers were finally able to confirm the cause.
As an immediate precaution, Mercedes has advised both Russell and Antonelli to avoid spending long periods directly in the slipstream of other cars during races, especially in hot conditions. Running in the dirty air of other vehicles increases thermal load, which appears to be the main reason for the issue.
The team is also working on a long-term technical solution, as updates are expected to be introduced over the next phase of the European season, where high temperatures are expected to remain a challenge.
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