Mercedes driver George Russell will serve a five-place penalty at this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix following an engine change, the FIA stewards have confirmed.

After Russell’s teammate Kimi Antonelli clinched the drivers’ championship in Mexico last weekend, Mercedes stands on the brink of winning the F1 2026 constructors’ title in Brazil.

FIA confirms George Russell grid penalty for Brazilian Grand Prix

The Brackley-based outfit will be crowned world champions if it outscores main rivals Ferrari by three points at Interlagos.

Despite winning 12 of the 19 races held so far in F1 2026, Mercedes has had a patchy reliability record with Russell suffering race-ending technical faults in Canada and Malaysia.

Russell admitted following his stoppage in Sepang that he would be forced to take multiple grid penalties before the end of the season.

George Russell vs Kimi Antonelli: Mercedes head-to-head stats for F1 2026 season

Having started at the back of the grid in Singapore last month, the FIA has confirmed that Russell will serve a further five-place grid drop in Brazil this weekend after moving on to a sixth internal combustion engine of the season.

Having entered 2026 as the favourite for the world championship, Russell has won just twice since starting the season with a win at the opening round in Australia.

His last victory came at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku in mid-September.

Russell opted to leave the circuit without facing the media after Antonelli sealed the title in Mexico last weekend, with Mercedes receiving a fine of €5,000 as a result.

Speaking in Sao Paulo on Thursday, Russell admitted to feeling he “needed to just get out of here” after a disappointing race in Mexico.

He said: “I was extremely disappointed Sunday night, more from the fact of missing out on a great result from something again outside of my control, and that was just a really tough pill to swallow.

“This season it’s been ‘tough moment, pick yourself back up, tough moment, pick yourself back up.’

“And I think, as an individual, I’ve continued to have that resilience of being able to always pick myself back up.

“It kind of just got to the point in Mexico where I was like, ‘I need to just get out of here’, because it’s just been relentless what’s happened this year.

“It’s been tough. I’m here, four days later, ready to go again.

“And I think for any individual, or sportsperson, or businessperson, you never have every year of your life that goes the way you want.

“We all have problems we deal with. We have good days, bad days, good years, bad years.

“I think it’s important to not let that define you. You’ve just got to come back stronger and that’s what we’re here to do.”

McLaren driver and 2025 world champion Lando Norris set the pace in the opening practice session in Brazil on Friday, outpacing Antonelli by 0.082 seconds.