Lewis Hamilton hit with 10-place grid penalty
Lewis Hamilton’s bid to land a record eighth world championship has taken a severe blow after being hit with a 10-place grid penalty for this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix.
After winning the Russian Grand Prix last time out in front of chief title rival Max Verstappen, the Brit heads into Istanbul with a narrow two-point lead at the top of the driver standings.
However, his Mercedes team have been forced into an engine change ahead of Sunday’s race, taking him over the allocation of three available to him over the season leading to his demotion down the grid.
Following Hamilton’s engine failure in practice at the Dutch Grand Prix, the Silver Arrows had reliability concerns over their two remaining power units and by changing the engine now limits the nightmare scenario of him suffering an engine failure during a race.
Confirmation of the change was made by the FIA and the team after the start of first practice where Hamilton ended the session comfortably fastest.
The move comes after Verstappen himself took a similar penalty last time out in Russia, with the Red Bull star forced to start rom the back of the grid after changing his engine and additional components before capitalising on a late downpour to secure a morale boosting second in Sochi.
Hamilton had been coy over whether his team would need to take a penalty, saying: ‘At the moment, I still have engines numbers two and three.
I do not envisage us having to take the penalty at the moment but that could change.’
Despite the blow of the engine penalty, Hamilton can take solace that Istanbul Park does have the potential for providing overtaking, especially on the long straight near the end of the lap.
With rain also forecast for the race, it lends more chances for the 36-year-old to overtake giving his strength driving in the wet, proven last year when in slippery conditions he claimed his seventh world championship in Turkey following a stunning win.
An engine change was always likely for Hamilton heading into the final seven races of the season and team boss Toto Wolff previously stated that taking a penalty covers the potential for an in-race failure, which would result in Hamilton having to suffer a grid penalty for an engine change regardless.
‘We believe that between P1 and P2, with the fastest lap, that if you have one DNF it needs the other guy four races to catch up,’ Wolff said.
‘And that’s brutal. So you can afford to finish four times in second [place]. Therefore, you just need to really play it safe while not giving up performance.’
Meanwhile, it was also confirmed Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz would start from the back of the grid after his car also took a range of new components including an engine change.
Khachanov is bidding to become the first Russian champion in the men’s singles since Yevgeny Kafelnikov struck gold in Sydney 21 years ago.
“It’s just pure happiness, pleasure to be here to live those moments, these kind of memories will stay forever,” the 25-year-old, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals earlier this month, said.
Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus became New Zealand’s first Olympic tennis medallists for 109 years, beating Americans Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in the men’s doubles bronze-medal match. - Daily Mail
