Hamilton to start 20th after five-place grid penalty

Lewis Hamilton will drop five places on the grid for Sunday’s German race after Mercedes decided to change the gearbox on his car because of damage incurred in his qualifying accident at Hockenheim.

“The guys are working on the car now to repair everything for the race,” said the team on Twitter. “It's going to be a busy morning!”

Hamilton crashed heavily near the end of Q1 after a front-right brake disc failure. The Briton ended up qualifying 16th, but moved up to 15th on the grid due to Esteban Gutierrez’s penalty from the last round. He is now due to start 20th.

There had been speculation that Hamilton could be forced to start from the pit lane after Mercedes replaced the Brembo-made brake discs on his car for alternative Carbone Industrie parts as a precautionary measure.

However, it is understood the FIA has agreed that this does not constitute a set-up change, since the specification of the replacement parts is essentially the same.