Mercedes has not yet identified the causes of the technical problems on George Russell’s car during the Bahrain GP, issues that actually began to surface halfway through the race. The malfunction in the brake-by-wire system and the DRS, which Russell had to activate manually, certainly didn’t make things easy for the British driver, who nonetheless managed to finish second, delivering an outstanding performance.
The transponder, which communicates with FOM’s timing system, was removed by technicians for analysis and was found to be charred.
“We’ve just returned to the factory with about ten suitcases full of components and various parts, including a rather scorched and blackened FOM transponder, and other pieces related to the brake-by-wire system,” explained Bradley Lord, head of communications for the Mercedes team. “So, for now, we still haven’t identified the root cause.”
What happened during the race?
The first signs of malfunction appeared halfway through the race, even though they became visible on TV later. The first clue was George Russell’s name suddenly disappearing from the leaderboard: “George’s name suddenly dropped off the timing screen, but he was still on track, speaking on the radio. We immediately realized it was a timing issue, not a mechanical failure,” he said.
However, this failure affected the operation of the DRS, which normally relies on the transponder to determine whether the driver is within the regulation one-second window behind another car. Mercedes had to activate a backup system, obtaining FIA authorization to allow George Russell to use the DRS manually.
Brake-by-wire system failure
As if that weren’t enough, the W15 experienced a further issue with the brake-by-wire system, which electronically regulates brake balance between front and rear.
“We started having a separate but parallel malfunction in the brake-by-wire system.
This system manages the distribution of braking force between front and rear brakes, particularly the rear brakes. Part of the braking is performed by the MGU-K (the electric motor-generator unit), and another part by the hydraulic brakes,” said Lord.
“When the system switches to passive mode, braking is handled only by the hydraulic rear brakes, without MGU-K assistance. The car’s behavior changes drastically and a lot of braking power is lost, leading to overheating of the rear brakes.”
George Russell had to manage this critical situation in the final stages of the race, manually switching between modes via a setting called default change: “George was struggling with this. We had to get him to perform a default change, a mode switch that would let him manually go from passive to active mode in the final laps of the race. In the last 10 laps, George made between 20 and 30 setting changes, all while driving precisely, braking in the right places, and defending from Charles Leclerc and then Lando Norris.”
Why George Russell accidentally opened the DRS
Mercedes feared the failure could also affect the digital dashboard on the steering wheel, but fortunately that didn’t happen.
“The biggest concern was that the fault would completely disable the dashboard on the steering wheel. If that had happened, we could still drive using backup systems: it’s still possible to change gears, use the DRS, and the radio.
We have a backup radio system in the car that isn’t on the steering wheel but is a button inside the cockpit.
That button, apparently, also serves as the manual backup control for the DRS in case of failure,” he explained.
However, Russell accidentally activated the DRS by pressing the backup radio button, which also functions as manual DRS activation.
“George was testing the backup radio in case he needed to use it. He pressed that button on the back straight and unintentionally opened the DRS. He realized it immediately, braked, closed it again, and continued. The stewards reviewed the situation and decided not to issue any penalty. George was like a juggler spinning plates on sticks,” commented Lord.
“It was an impressive performance: not only did he manage technically complex issues, but he also drove flawlessly, making no mistakes and defending against two tough opponents like Lando and Charles,” he concluded.
In such a complicated context, Russell showed remarkable composure, managing to bring home a well-deserved second place in what has been an extremely positive start to the season for him.
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