Lewis Hamilton is set to take a 10-place grid penalty at the Formula 1 Turkish Grand Prix following the team's decision to fit a 4th ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) on his Mercedes.
Teams are only allotted 3 ICE replacements during the season, hence, the grid penalty. Mercedes trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin, explained that the team opted to take this penalty to avoid DNFs for Hamilton for the remainder of the F1 season.
Via Matt Moldrige:
“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,
Max Verstappen, also took grid penalties in the Russian Grand Prix, where he started from P20, and exceptionally minimized damage to his championship aspirations by making it all the way onto the podium, finishing P2. Hamilton will look to do the same in a sense to keep Verstappen within reach.
“It's better to take 10 places than start at the back.”
Despite the grid penalties, Lewis Hamilton showed stellar form as the Englishman topped the timesheets in FP1 and FP2, setting new track records on the soft tires.
As a sign of what's to come, Mercedes teammate, Valterri Bottas made up several places in Monza after starting P20 and finishing P3 due to engine replacements as well — Formula 1 and Mercedes fans alike will be keen to see if Hamilton can charge through the field this Sunday.
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