George Russell is optimistic Mercedes have identified and resolved the glitches that have afflicted his car's power unit ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix. <p>Russell slipped 50 points behind title-leading team-mate Kimi Antonelli last weekend at Spa-Francorchamps after making a lap-one exit from the race following contact from Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton.</p><p>However, the Briton felt that collision, and his difficult weekend relative to Antonelli as a whole, had been heavily influenced by energy-deployment problems from his engine.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13564140/hungarian-gp-2026-dates-schedule-weather-uk-start-time-and-how-to-watch-or-stream-f1-race-at-hungaroring-live-on-sky-sports"><strong>Hungarian GP: UK schedule and how to watch on Sky Sports</strong></a></li><li><strong><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/standings">F1 2026 standings</a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/schedule-results">F1 2026 Calendar</a> | <a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/live-blog/12433/12466779/f1-news-rumours-and-gossip-formula-1-latest-updates-on-teams-driver-transfer-market-and-contracts">F1 Gossip Column</a></strong></li><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/ContentPromo" target="_blank"><strong>Download the Sky Sports app for expert analysis, best video & more</strong></a><strong>📱</strong></li><li><strong>Not got Sky? </strong><a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>Get Sky Sports</strong></a><strong> or </strong><a href="http://www.nowtv.com/membership/watch-sky-sports?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank"><strong>stream with no contract on NOW</strong></a><strong>📺</strong></li></ul><p>Russell had experienced one straight-line speed glitch over the event's first two days, affecting the end of the long lap, while his race start was hampered by a separate issue which impacted all Mercedes-powered runners.</p><p>But Russell is hopeful Mercedes have managed to get to the bottom of what went wrong and have counter measures in place.</p><p>"We're pretty confident we've got on top of the issues that we had in Spa and it should be easy to resolve," he said.</p><p>"We hope and we think we have got on top of it, so feeling more positive.</p><widget id="1"></widget><p>"At the time we were not sure what it was but the team have worked so hard to really dig deep.</p><p>"I think Spa gave us the right clues where we needed to look and it's only really when you look deep into the right place that you find the problem. Fingers crossed we hope the issue with the power unit has been resolved, but we'll find out this weekend."</p><p>Asked to clarify whether it had been anything to with the way he was driving the W17, having initially worked through different approaches to tackling the sweeping Belgian lap, Russell said: "We think it was a software bug. It wasn't the driving style that was contributing to the loss of power, so that's something at least.</p><p>"I think Spa gave us the right pointers of where to look for the problem. It's like getting a needle out of a haystack really and suddenly when you know where you've got to look maybe the problem you can find and I think we have.</p><p>"Time will tell but it wasn't an easy couple of weeks."</p> <widget id="2"></widget><h3>'It is the toughest psychological battle I've had' – Russell opens up on 2026 ups and downs</h3><p>Russell described his season, in which he started as the clear favourite for the world title, as an "emotional rollercoaster", amid Mercedes' reliability problems and inconsistency in his own form.</p><p>Asked if it had all contributed to the toughest psychological battle he had faced in his career on track to date, Russell said: "Yeah, I think it's probably fair to say it is the toughest psychological battle I've had just because it's been so many ups and downs, combined with things in my control that haven't been great and also with things outside of my control that have hampered progress and progression.</p> <widget id="3"></widget><p>"But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and I sort of feel proud of my resilience and three days later here at Spa I feel positive and excited for the weekend and I'm looking at the future prospects and not the past disappointment.</p><p>"I guess that's the good thing with racing, you've often got another opportunity just round the corner."</p><h3><a href="https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13564140/hungarian-gp-2026-dates-schedule-weather-uk-start-time-and-how-to-watch-or-stream-f1-race-at-hungaroring-live-on-sky-sports">Sky Sports F1's Hungarian GP schedule</a></h3><p><strong>Thursday July 23</strong><br />2pm: Drivers' Press Conference<br />5pm: Paddock Uncut</p><p><strong>Friday July 24</strong><br />8.50am: F3 Practice<br />10am: F2 Practice<br /><strong>12pm: Hungarian GP Practice One (session starts at 12.30pm)*</strong><br />1.55pm: F3 Qualifying<br />3pm: F2 Qualifying<br /><strong>3.45pm: Hungarian GP Practice Two (session starts at 4pm)</strong><br />5.15pm: The F1 Show</p><p><strong>Saturday July 25</strong><br />9am: F3 Sprint<br /><strong>11.15am: Hungarian GP Practice Three (session starts at 11.30am)</strong><br />1.10pm: F2 Sprint*<br />2.15pm: Hungarian GP Qualifying build-up*<br /><strong>3pm: HUNGARIAN GP QUALIFYING*</strong><br />5pm: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*</p><p><strong>Sunday July 26</strong><br />7.35am: F3 Feature Race<br />9.05am: Porsche Supercup<br />10.20am: F2 Feature Race<br />12.30pm: Hungarian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*<br /><strong>2pm: THE HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX*</strong><br />4pm: Hungarian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*<br />5pm: Ted's Notebook*</p><p><em>*Also on Sky Sports Main Event</em></p><p><strong>Formula 1 heads straight to Budapest for the Hungarian Grand Prix with every session live on Sky Sports F1 from this Friday. <a href="https://www.nowtv.com/watch-sky-sports-online?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink">Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime</a></strong></p>
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