Mercedes is pondering whether wold championship leader Lewis Hamilton should take an engine penalty at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix or wait a week later until Monza.

Following the early season issues that led to the German team having to publicly assure fans that it was not deliberately hampering the Briton's efforts, Hamilton goes into the second half of the season knowing that grid penalties are a matter of when not if.

However, with a number of the remaining races taking place on circuits where overtaking is difficult, Spa and Monza represent the best opportunities to take a grid penalty but still achieve a decent result.

Hamilton is currently on the maximum five components in terms of turbochargers and MGU-H and under the rules which see a 10-place penalty applied when a sixth elements is first used and a five-place penalty for each remaining element, it is widely thought that he will take a maximum penalty by using two whole new engines which would then be added to the 'pool' for the remainder of the season.

Admitting a penalty is likely this weekend, a team spokesperson said that "confirmation is expected tomorrow".

Changes to the regulations ahead of the current season mean that grid penalties which exceed 22 places can no longer be carried over to the next event.