So, the power unit chess match has taken a wild turn as Motorsport.com Italia reports. Mercedes has completely ripped up its playbook, meaning George Russell will not be starting from the back of the grid at Baku.
That said, let us look at how quickly plans change in this sport. It was widely expected that Russell would take a fresh power unit in Azerbaijan and swallow a grid penalty, paying back Kimi Antonelli for the tow he handed him during qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. But Mercedes has decided on a different gamble entirely.
The team wants to push Russell's current pool of power units all the way to the United States Grand Prix in Austin at the end of October. If they pull it off, George will skip a penalty in Azerbaijan and drop a brand-new ADUO version power unit straight into his machine when the paddock arrives in Austin. The German manufacturer is planning to debut an upgraded internal combustion engine spec at that exact round, an update that will not even be touched by customer teams, McLaren included, until then.
Antonelli's situation sits in stark contrast. Kimi already took a grid drop at Monza for using his fifth power unit of the season and will likely have to start at the back again when his car receives the ADUO spec. The divergence comes down to reliability and wear: Antonelli's earlier power unit failures caused irreversible damage, leaving his garage with a depleted stockpile of usable components. Russell, on the other hand, enjoyed a bit more luck, saving several troubled units that can still be bolted back on for service.
Unfortunately, Ferrari is sweating over the exact opposite kind of trouble. Charles Leclerc walks into the Baku weekend carrying a giant question mark over his garage.
The Scuderia had zero penalties penciled in for Azerbaijan after dropping ADUO 2 power units into the cars at Monza, but Leclerc's heavy crash at the exit of the Parabolica during the early laps of the Italian Grand Prix completely scrambled those plans. The resulting damage made the engineers cautious, keeping that specific power unit on the shelf during the following round in Madrid while checks continued.
Now, the definitive verdict lands in Azerbaijan. Charles will fire up the ADUO 2 power unit used at Monza for the opening practice sessions, treating it as a critical test. If the telemetry gives it a clean bill of health, he races on. If those parameters come back negative, Ferrari must install a fresh ADUO 2 unit, triggering an inevitable grid penalty.
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