Lewis Hamilton penalized in Brazil

New setback for Lewis Hamilton on the road to a possible 8th world title, which is gradually moving away.

As expected for several days, the pilot Mercedes, which is 19 points behind its rival Max Verstappen (Red Bull) at the head of the Drivers' championship, will have to fall back 5 places on the grid for the São Paulo Grand Prix on Sunday.

The German team has in fact decided to mount a 5th thermal engine (ICE) at the rear of the W12 of the seven-time world champion. Hamilton had received the 4th ICE in Turkey, a sign that Mercedes has not resolved the reliability concerns also encountered on the side of Valtteri Bottas, which is on its 6th ICE.

Remember that the 2021 sporting regulations only authorize 3 internal combustion engines per driver for the entire season.

Hamilton's grid penalty will not apply for the Sprint round, scheduled for Saturday, but on Sunday for the main event.

His teammate Bottas had experienced a similar scenario at Monza, which did not prevent him from setting the best time in qualifying then winning the next day during the reduced format race.

Asked on Thursday about the possibility of getting a new engine, Hamilton was evasive, saying that “(s)the engines are fine ».

Not so good apparently.

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BREAKING: Lewis has taken a new Internal Combustion Engine for this event - his fifth of the season - and will take a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's #BrazilGP pic.twitter.com/Fk4lSu2DRR

—Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) November 12, 2021