Lewis Hamilton received a 10-seat online penalty in Turkey for an engine change

Lewis Hamilton gets a 10-place grid penalty in the Turkish GP when Mercedes decided to install a new engine in his car and took him over his quota for the season.

For cost savings reasons, drivers are only allowed to use three engines per year, and additional units in excess of this quota will result in network penalties. It was thought that Mercedes would fit other new powertrain components into Hamilton’s car, such as a new turbocharger and hybrid system, which would have resulted in a power grid rear penalty, but so far Mercedes has decided to replace only the engine itself, leading to a lower ten-seat penalty.

The penalty could affect the title battle, with Hamilton leading his main rival Max Verstappen by two points ahead of the weekend’s Turkish race.

Red Bull installed a completely new power unit in Verstappen’s car in the final lap in Russia, which took him over his multi-component quota and led to a grid rear penalty, but the wet weather at the end of the race allowed him to clear the field and finish second, minimizing damage to his title campaign.

Hamilton hopes to do the same this weekend and is comforted by the fact that he won in Turkey last year after starting sixth.

Carlos Sainz also received a net penalty this weekend after Ferrari had installed a completely new power unit in his car that would get him to start from the back row of the grid.