Russell's F1 championship dreams up in smoke after heartbreaking retirement in Sepang

[p]The ‌British driver was running in a strong position to claim ‌valuable championship points when the second safety car emerged for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/albon-alexander/OEbwYC7k/"]Alex Albon[/a]'s ‌Williams, which was stuck in the gravel.[/p][p]But as the field prepared ‌for a thrilling finale behind the safety car, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/russell-george/xxF56RaN/"]Russell[/a] - who was third behind eventual race winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/verstappen-max/UV3mgeXB/"]Max Verstappen[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/antonelli-andrea-kimi/ptGu0mT1/"]Kimi Antonelli[/a] - suddenly parked his car on ‌the main straight and shook his head ⁠as he climbed out.[/p][embed guid="4d48cde4-3f3a-4748-ba31-59b891d653e4" url="https://x.com/F1/status/2106708046286045205" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"You've almost got ‌to laugh, it's beyond disappointment. It's just so many times this season ​it's happened. It's a real shame," Russell said.[/b][/p][p][b]"The podium looked very certain. Solid race, not amazing race, but solid race. ​But not the first time, so I'm pretty used to this feeling."[/b][/p][p]The retirement meant Russell's championship deficit grew from 66 points to ⁠84 behind Antonelli.[/p][p][b]"I don't ​need to say I think it's (championship hopes) gone or whatever, but of course it's exceptionally unlikely and that's just the reality," Russell added.[/b][/p][p][b]"I knew if I wanted to come back, I needed luck on ‌my side... It's a real shame."[/b][/p][embed guid="65ed3133-6ad7-4d78-bcca-c7e589b7efaf" url="https://x.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/2106693095786238278" social-type="twitter" /][p]Mercedes boss Toto Wolff confirmed it was a power unit failure on Russell's car.[/p][p][b]"I'm so massively annoyed. I'm not in a happy place," Wolff said.[/b][/p][p][b]"First of all, we didn't have the speed that we were hoping to have before the weekend, so there's a lot of homework to be done in order to recover, which I'm sure we will."[/b][/p][p]With the two Ferraris of [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hamilton-lewis/tI5Vpe1h/"]Lewis Hamilton[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/leclerc-charles/KlCOSRub/"]Charles Leclerc[/a] finishing third and fourth, Mercedes' ‌lead in the constructors' standings is now 151 points.[/p][p][b]"We had such ​an advantage (with) two safety cars, you couldn't be more unlucky," ‌Wolff added.[/b][/p][p][b]"And to make things worse, a PU failure with a few laps to go to the end with George, which is terrible for his championship and not good at all for our constructor points.[/b][/p][p][b]"So as much as I love to be ⁠here, when I look at ⁠the pure races, one of ‌my worst experiences, to be honest."[/b][/p][p] [/p]