Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said a technical fault caused George Russell to drop from sixth to 20th at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The issue occurred when Russell's new engine failed to respond to throttle inputs just before the lights went out. The car entered anti-stall mode, and Russell fell to the back of the field at the first corner.
Wolff explained that Russell applied about 10 percent throttle, but the engine revved to maximum before bogging down. Russell described the engine revving uncontrollably four seconds before the start despite his inputs.
Russell recovered to finish seventh after overtaking multiple cars. He now trails teammate Kimi Antonelli by 59 points in the championship after 11 rounds.
