India, Oct. 7 -- George Russell's already fading 2026 Formula 1 championship hopes have suffered another major blow after Mercedes confirmed that he will start Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix from the back of the grid. The penalty follows the power-unit failure that forced Russell to retire from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia with five laps remaining while running third, leaving Mercedes with no choice but to introduce another power unit after the Briton had exhausted his permitted allocation.

The timing could hardly be worse for Russell. The Mercedes driver is now 84 points behind teammate and championship leader Kimi Antonelli, who finished second in Malaysia while Russell scored no points. With Singapore's narrow Marina Bay street c...