Fresh F1 title blow for Hamilton with engine penalty looming

Mercedes has decided to fit a new internal combustion engine on Hamilton’s car in Brazil amid its continued battle against a reliability issue that has affected its 2021 power unit. 

It will be the fifth ICU element Hamilton has used this season, meaning he will face a five-place grid drop for Sunday’s grand prix. 

Hamilton previously served a 10-place grid penalty for moving onto his fourth V6 engine of the season in Turkey. Each ICE element used after the fourth triggers a subsequent five-place grid drop. 

It is a dent to Hamilton’s hopes of winning a record-breaking eighth world championship. 

The Briton trails championship rival Max Verstappen by 19 points after the Red Bull driver’s dominant victory in Mexico. 

There are still 107 points left up for grabs in the remaining four races of the season, but Hamilton now faces a mountain to climb if he is going to overturn his deficit, given it will likely be bigger by the end of the weekend. 

F1’s third and final sprint race will take place at Interlagos, with three additional points on offer for the 100km race on Saturday that will decide Sunday’s starting grid. 

Hamilton will start the Saturday sprint from wherever he qualifies on Friday evening, before serving his grid drop on Sunday. 

Speaking ahead of the weekend on Thursday, Hamilton highlighted how difficult overtaking could be at Interlagos. 

“This is not a very good track for overtaking," he said. "You’ve got to have something like a 1.1s advantage on the car ahead to have a 50% chance of overtaking."