乔治·拉塞尔瞄准美国站应对即将到来的梅赛德斯引擎网格处罚
乔治·拉塞尔确认将面临另一场引擎网格处罚，但梅赛德斯计划在拉斯维加斯承担损失。
乔治·拉塞尔瞄准美国站应对即将到来的梅赛德斯引擎网格处罚
乔治·拉塞尔确认另一场引擎网格处罚即将到来，但梅赛德斯计划在拉斯维加斯承担损失。
对于梅赛德斯车迷来说，这里是关于银箭的最新消息，包括F1新闻、车手更新、赛车发展和比赛分析，来自布拉克利和布里克斯沃斯。
在2026赛季的这个阶段，乔治·拉塞尔几乎与FIA裁判员成了朋友。在新加坡大奖赛中，由于更换了大量动力单元部件，他遭受了惊人的60位发车位置下降，你可能会认为这位英国车手会尽可能地远离发车区末尾。
再想想吧。
梅赛德斯正在准备在年底前再安装一个升级的动力单元部件，这意味着拉塞尔不得不吞下苦果，并接受又一次的排位下降。但这一次，布拉克利车队不会随便承受打击。他们正故意等待拉斯维加斯大道的霓虹灯亮起时才采取行动。
在接受天空体育F1采访时，拉塞尔确认，虽然另一个与引擎相关的处罚不可避免，但梅赛德斯已经赢得了战术上的喘息空间来选择他们的战场。
“说实话，现在可能是在赛季的后期，也许是在拉斯维加斯。但它在某个时候会出现，”拉塞尔解释说。“现在我们可以选择何时接受它，我们将选择稍微容易一些的赛道[来超越]。”
这里的逻辑很难被反驳。在一个狭窄、技术性强的赛道上受到引擎处罚，本质上就是报名参加一场长达两小时的游行，被困在中游DRS车队后面。新加坡已经用这种方式让梅赛德斯学到了这个教训；尽管拉塞尔的车速比他前面的车快近1.5秒一圈，但污染的气流尾流整晚都困住了他，限制了他的恢复速度，最终排名第九。
另一方面，拉斯维加斯基本上是一条直线赛道，有几个90度的弯道和一个球体。在1.9公里的全速直道上，搭载新鲜动力和DRS的梅赛德斯应该能够毫无困难地穿越车队。
即将到来的升级是梅赛德斯在赛季末积极开发的一部分。在新加坡进行了分设配置后——在那里，赛道工程总监安德鲁·肖夫林确认基米·安东内利的升级版W17“显然比另一个更快”——车队希望确保两位车手在最后一段都有最锋利的工具。
安东内利有足够的奢侈来捍卫他的102分冠军领先优势，并在奥斯汀追逐可能的冠军加冕，而拉塞尔则一直在做不引人注目的脏活，测试硬件，更换部件，并在维修区处罚中挣扎。
通过将即将到来的动力单元处罚推迟到拉斯维加斯，梅赛德斯避免了在奥斯汀、墨西哥城和英特拉戈斯这些赛道上浪费积分——在这些赛道上，赛道位置至关重要，超车更加困难。
如果拉塞尔在赛季结束前还要从最后一排发车一次，那么在拉斯维加斯的灯光下，带着一台全新的引擎进行比赛可能会给粉丝带来今年最精彩的时刻。
英文原文
George Russell targets US race for looming Mercedes engine grid penalty
George Russell confirms another engine grid penalty is coming, but Mercedes plans to take the hit in Las Vegas
For Mercedes fans. All the latest from the Silver Arrows, with F1 news, driver updates, car development and race analysis from Brackley and Brixworth.
At this point in the 2026 season, George Russell is practically on a first-name basis with the FIA stewards. After eating a staggering 60-place grid drop at the Singapore Grand Prix to replace an entire pharmacy of power unit components, you would think the British driver would want to stay as far away from the back of the grid as humanly possible.
Think again.
Mercedes is preparing to bolt on another upgraded power unit element before the year wraps up, meaning Russell will have to take his medicine and accept yet another grid drop. But this time around, the Brackley squad isn't just going to take the hit anywhere. They are deliberately waiting for the neon lights of the Las Vegas Strip to pull the trigger.
Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Russell confirmed that while another engine-related penalty is inevitable, Mercedes has earned the tactical breathing room to pick their battlefield.
"It will probably be later in the season now, to be honest — maybe Las Vegas. But it will be there at some point," Russell explained. "Now we have the choice to take it when we wish, and we will choose slightly easier tracks [to overtake at]."
The logic here is pretty hard to argue with. Taking an engine penalty at a tight, technical circuit is essentially signing up for a two-hour parade stuck behind a midfield DRS train. Singapore already taught Mercedes that lesson the hard way; despite Russell having nearly 1.5 seconds a lap in raw pace over the cars in front of him, the dirty air wake trapped him all night, capping his recovery drive at P9.
Las Vegas, on the other hand, is basically a drag strip with a couple of 90-degree corners and a sphere. With a massive 1.9-kilometer flat-out blast down the Strip, a Mercedes carrying fresh horsepower and DRS should have zero trouble carving through the pack.
The looming upgrade is part of Mercedes' aggressive late-season development push. After running split setups in Singapore—where Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin confirmed that Kimi Antonelli’s upgraded W17 was "clearly the faster of the two"—the team wants to ensure both drivers have the sharpest tools available for the final stretch.
While Antonelli has the luxury of defending his 102-point championship lead and chasing a potential title coronation in Austin, Russell has been doing the unglamorous dirty work of testing hardware, cycling through components, and battling through grid penalties.
By pushing the upcoming power unit penalty back to Vegas, Mercedes avoids throwing away points at Austin, Mexico City, and Interlagos—venues where track position is king and passing is far more difficult.
If Russell has to start from the back of the grid one more time before the season shuts down, doing it under the Las Vegas lights with a fresh engine might just give fans the most entertaining charge of the year.
Motorsport.com ·
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