Hamilton to drop five places on Suzuka grid 09 Oct 2010
Lewis Hamilton will drop five places on the grid for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix after McLaren decided they needed to replace his car's gearbox. Qualifying for the Suzuka race will take place on Sunday morning, after heavy rain on Saturday forced the FIA stewards to postpone it.
McLaren noticed abnormal oil pressure in Hamilton's gearbox during Saturday’s rain-hit Practice Three. The British team believed they had solved the issue, but when they fired up the car in the afternoon, the problem had worsened and they opted to change the gearbox.
The penalty is another blow for the British driver, who has completed only a handful of laps at Suzuka this weekend after crashing out of first practice on Friday. He is currently third in the driver standings, 20 points behind leader Mark Webber.
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