George Russell and Mercedes were left frustrated after another technical issue disrupted his Hungarian Grand Prix, with the driver calling for a detailed investigation into the problem that destroyed his start.

Russell began the race from the third row of the grid but suffered a power unit issue moments before lights out. The Mercedes engine suddenly started behaving unpredictably, with Russell unable to get a response from his throttle inputs. Forced into anti-stall, he watched the field stream past and dropped to 21st position.

Despite the setback, Russell produced a strong recovery drive to finish seventh, with his pace throughout the race offering a rare positive. However, the Mercedes driver admitted he had reached a point where repeated disappointments were becoming difficult to process.

“I’m sort of past the point of disappointment now, because if I continue to be disappointed with everything that goes on, I’ll just be disappointed every day of the week. So I’ve got to stay positive,” Russell said.

“Obviously, another technical issue that completely ruined the race.”

Russell said Mercedes informed him that his pace was among the strongest on the grid, giving him confidence after a difficult run of form.

“The team said I was as strong as anybody out there, which I haven’t been there for probably three races, so I will take positives there.”

However, he admitted the ongoing reliability problems have been extremely frustrating.

“It’s just unbelievable the list of things that’s happened this season.”

Explaining what went wrong at the start, Russell revealed the engine began malfunctioning just seconds before the race began.

“I was on the throttle holding the revs, and then all of a sudden, about four seconds before the lights went out, the engine just started revving all over the place.”

Russell said his attempts to control the situation were unsuccessful.

“I was reacting with my throttle. It was doing nothing. The engine wasn’t reacting to the throttle.”

The Mercedes driver confirmed he had not experienced the issue earlier in the season and said the power unit involved was brand new. He added that Mercedes had encountered something similar during pre-season testing, but the exact cause remains unclear.

“It was a brand new engine. I think it was something we saw in pre-season at some points, but yeah, no idea.”

With another technical failure affecting Russell’s race, Mercedes now faces the task of investigating the issue and preventing similar problems from occurring again.