Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Lewis Hamilton will take a five place grid penalty for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix following an unscheduled gearbox change on Friday.
Compounding what has been a less than ideal start to his Bahrain Grand Prix preparations, Hamilton and Mercedes were dealt another blow on Friday afternoon following news that the Englishman will stand a five-place demotion on the grid for Sunday's Grand Prix, as penalty for changing his Mercedes gearbox ahead of the mandated six race period of use.
Having found bearing damage thanks to a hydraulic leak during the season opening Australian Grand Prix, Mercedes were left with little choice than to replace the whole unit ahead of Saturday's running in Bahrain, resulting in a five place drop from his qualifying result for the race on Sunday.
It would be a busy day of action for the Mercedes garage on Friday afternoon with the team having to replace the gearbox of second driver Valtteri Bottas too, however the Finn would avoid the need to serve any penalty after already suffering a grid drop in Australia following another change following his big accident during qualifying at the Albert Park street circuit. With Bottas having used a spare unit in Australia post crash, his Mercedes team will be returning the original unit to his W09 ahead of the running on Saturday in Bahrain.
Mercedes hopes now rest with Valtteri Bottas as the team look to secure a record sixth consecutive Bahrain Grand Prix pole position tomorrow afternoon.
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With a penalty forcing Hamilton to start from sixth position at best on Sunday, do you think the reigning World Champion can still hope to fight for victory in Bahrain on Sunday?
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