01/05/2016
NEWS STORY
Lewis Hamilton faces no further grid penalties for today's race despite the team changing his engine.
Fact is, following yesterday's issue at the end of Q2, which left him 10th on the grid, but concerned that he might face further penalties if parts were changed, the team opted to use his Melbourne engine.
"The team has worked tirelessly overnight and into this morning to make the best of a tough situation after yesterday's qualifying session and give Lewis the best possible chance of a strong result in today's race," revealed the team this morning.
"We have re-fitted his original Melbourne engine, which was here as a spare. It contains a new Turbocharger and MGU-H (his third of the season), which were replaced after the failure in China. We have also replaced the Control Electronics and Energy Store to eliminate them as a potential source of the problem.
"The main challenge has been in ensuring that we replaced parts with those of the same specification, as we introduced an upgrade here for all eight power units but did not have spare components on site. We therefore had to fly out a fuel system on a chartered jet yesterday evening, which arriving in Sochi during the early hours.
"The spare engine (not covered by Parc Fermé rules) was then kitted with these parts during the night and fitted to Lewis' car when it came out of Parc Fermé this morning. This job has now been completed and the car has fired up successfully in the garage.
"Our entire approach has been guided by ensuring we did not break the Parc Fermé regulations so that Lewis would not need to start from the pit lane. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will start from P10.
"The team has gone to great lengths to ensure we maximise Lewis' chances of a strong result today. As the man himself says: "We win and lose together."
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