Hamilton to start Belgian GP from bottom row after third penalty

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.