Lewis Hamilton’s quest to stay ahead of Max Verstappen at the top of Formula 1 standings has just gotten a lot tougher. According to F1’s official announcement on social media, Hamilton will enter the upcoming Turkish Grand Prix with a 10-place grid penalty. This means that even if the Mercedes driver is best at the qualifiers, he will still start the race in 11th place.
Hamilton received the penalty after putting a new internal combustion engine in his car. By doing this, he exceeded the limit of three engine parts that each driver can change during one season.
Formula 1 also confirmed that Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz has also been hit with a penalty and will start the Turkish GP from the back of the grid. Sainz received a harsher penalty after he got a completely new engine, while Hamilton only got one power-unit component.
Lewis Hamilton is currently leading the F1 standings with 246.5 points after winning the Russian Grand Prix two weeks ago. Verstappen is breathing down his neck with 244.5 points while Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas rounds up the top three but has no real chance of entering the conversation for the title.
