Hamilton to take 10-place grid penalty with new engine

Lewis Hamilton will start the race 10 places lower than his qualifying position after Mercedes fitted a new ICE (Internal Combustion Engine), his fourth of the season; Mercedes hoping to limit penalty damage in title fight against Max Verstappen and Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton will take a 10-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Turkish GP after Mercedes fitted the championship leader with a new engine in Istanbul.

Hamilton has been moved onto his fourth ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) of the season, one more than is permitted in the F1 regulations.

• Turkish GP: When to watch all live on Sky Sports F1
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But as that is the only element that has been changed on his Power Unit, Hamilton is set to avoid the back-of-the-grid start that title rival Max Verstappen served at the last race in Russia.

Hamilton, who was fastest in Istanbul’s first practice session, will start the race 10 places lower than his qualifying position.

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Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin explains Lewis Hamilton’s 10-place grid penalty at the Turkish GP and why the team are hopeful the new engine can last until the end of the season.

While Hamilton played down the possibility of an engine penalty coming into the weekend, Mercedes had told Sky Sports that they wanted to avoid taking reliability “risks” in the championship battle against Verstappen.

There are only seven races left in the season and Mercedes feared a DNF if they did not take a fourth engine.

“We’re simulating all the races to the end of the year,” explained Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin.

“There’s a balance of the risk of a reliability issue, obviously the thing you definitely don’t want to do is fail during a race and then have to take a penalty anyway, and then there’s the performance element because the Power Units do lose a bit of a horsepower over their life.

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Anthony Davidson was at the SkyPad to compare Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s fastest lap from opening practice ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix.

“It’s better to take 10 places than start at the back.”

Red Bull’s Verstappen recovered from 20th to second at the Russian GP to limit Hamilton’s title lead to just two points despite taking his big penalty with a completely new Honda engine.

Hamilton isn’t the only driver serving an engine penalty this weekend; Carlos Sainz will start at the back of the grid with Ferrari’s new PU.