World champion's car fitted with third new upgraded engine for Practice Three at Spa; No F1 driver has ever won a race from last
Monday 29 August 2016 10:36, UK
Lewis Hamilton will start the Belgian GP from the back of the grid after Mercedes triggered his third engine-related penalty during Saturday morning practice at Spa.
The world champion's W07 car was fitted with its third brand-new power unit of the weekend when Practice Three began, triggering another 25-place penalty and condemning Hamilton to a bottom-row start alongside former McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso.
The Spaniard will start the race last after his McLaren suffered its second breakdown of the weekend during qualifying.
Hamilton's demotion is punishment for breaching the number of engines a driver can use during a single season and is the long-anticipated consequence of the mechanical problems which blighted Hamilton's Mercedes car at the start of the season. A series of engine failures left Hamilton with just one unit in his permitted allowance for the rest of the season.
Rather than risk a series of separate demotions during the remaining races, Mercedes and Hamilton have elected to take all the pain in a single hit at the overtaking-friendly Spa circuit.
Although Hamilton's penalties add up to a 55-place drop, far more than the 22 positions which comprise this year's grid, the remainder of Hamilton's penalty will not be carried over for subsequent races after the rules were amended for this season.
"Don't get caught up in negativity of Hamilton grid penalties, doesn't matter if it's 1000," responded Sky F1's Martin Brundle. "Now has lots of engines and we'll see a fun race."
All of Hamilton's new engines have also been upgraded with Mercedes spending five of their remaining 11 tokens on improvements to their power unit.
Hamilton does, however, remain one reprimand away from an automatic 10-place drop following two driving misdemeanors earlier this season.
It is likely, meanwhile, that Hamilton will sit out most - if not all - of qualifying in order to save up his tyres for Sunday's race when he will have to scythe through the field to defend his 19-point lead of the world championship.
What can Hamilton achieve on race day from last?
Were Hamilton to triumph from the last row on Sunday, the world champion would make history as an F1 grand prix has never been won by a driver who started from the bottom row of the grid. The lowest starting position for any of Hamilton's 49 victories is sixth at the British GP in July 2014.
"Realistically, the likelihood is very, very minimal," Hamilton said of his victory hopes. "Never say never, I'm going to go for it, but it's unlikely."
However, team-mate and world championship rival Nico Rosberg is adamant Hamilton cannot be ruled out.
"With a bit of luck and safety cars at the right moment, there is no reason why he can't come from the very far back through the grid, especially on a track like here where you can overtake very easily," Rosberg told Sky F1.
Two years ago, Hamilton finished third in the Hungarian GP after starting from the pitlane and spinning off at the second corner.
"I really don't know how far I can get up, it depends on the pace of the other cars," said Hamilton.
"When I started last in Hungary a couple of years ago, when the gaps were much bigger, I came third, Sunday will definitely be harder than that. I just hope I can get into points. As long as I'm going forward, that's all that matters."
Why is Hamilton being penalised?
"We have these penalties to save on costs and prevent teams from using a fresh engine at every race - which would send costs out of control," explains Sky F1's Ted Kravitz.
"Every driver is essentially restricted to five power units per season and if they go above that, because of unreliability or breakdowns, trhey have to take grid penalties. Hamilton had some bad luck at the start of the season and now he will have to add a sixth or seventh or even a eighth element to those units.
"He is taking the penalty now because the two circuits coming up, Spa and Monza, are so long and it's easier to recover from starting at the back of the grid than at, say, Suzuka in Japan or Singapore."
