New George Russell evidence as Mercedes finds ‘bug’ in W17
George Russell is in his fifth full season with Mercedes in 2026
Mercedes has revealed that a “bug in the software code” contributed to George Russell missing out on a podium finish at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Mercedes’ dominant start to the F1 2026 season continued at Suzuka, where Kimi Antonelli claimed a second successive victory following his maiden triumph in China.
George Russell struck by Mercedes W17 software ‘bug’ in Japanese GP
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Antonelli’s win saw him take the lead for the first time in his career, moving nine points ahead of established teammate and Australian Grand Prix winner Russell.
Russell was left to settle for fourth having been caught out by an ill-timed safety car, which was deployed shortly after he had pitted from a net second place.
After losing third to Lewis Hamilton at the restart, Russell then lost a further place to Charles Leclerc on the approach to Spoon Curve on Lap 37.
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Russell appeared to suffer a brief loss of power, allowing Leclerc to take the position.
Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes’ trackside engineering director, has revealed that a bug in the system saw Russell’s car accidentally go into super-clipping mode when he made a gear change and pressed a button on his steering wheel at the same time.
Shovlin said: “Well done to Kimi on his second win.
“He had really strong pace and, whilst he benefited from the safety car to put him into the lead, he was able to comfortably control the race once he was in that position.
“Kimi’s fortune was George’s misfortune. Had we stopped George a lap later, he would have retained the lead for the restart.
“As it happened, he dropped to P3 and lost a further place to Lewis when he hit the harvesting limit too early in the lap and had insufficient battery for the restart.
“He then had another frustrating issue where a bug in the software code, triggered by a button press and a gear shift at the same time, caused the power unit to go into superclip and charge the battery which allowed Charles to pass.
“He battled back to P4 but it was a frustrating afternoon for George.
“Clearly there is a lot that we need to work on and understand in the next few weeks.
“We’ve made a great start to the season, but our competitors are closing in.
“Happily, we have several areas of improvement and we will make the maximum use of the gap in the calendar to develop in the places where we are not strong enough.”
Russell cut a frustrated figure after the race, claiming that victory would have been on the cards had he not pitted just before the safety car was deployed.
Asked if it felt like nothing went his way at Suzuka, he said: “No. At the end of the day, one lap’s difference and it probably would have been a race win. That’s frustrating.
“Everything that could go wrong did wrong.
“Obviously, we both made bad starts. Mine was slightly less bad. Safety car timing, restart.
“I got a harvest limit, which meant I couldn’t recharge my battery, similar to what’s happened to some drivers at the race starts.
“I had no battery to restart, Lewis passed me, and then faced another battery problem when Charles passed me.
“So as I said, one lap different and we’d be having probably a very different conversation.”
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