Things haven’t been as easy for Lewis Hamilton this season, compared to last, as his teammate leads the World Drivers’ Championship. The Chinese Grand Prix will be no different for the reigning World Champion, as he is slammed with a five-place grid penalty.
The penalty was for a gearbox change that happened on Wednesday. Mercedes inspected the power unit on Wednesday in China, where it was determined that the gearbox had been damaged in the Bahrain Grand Prix. When faced with the decision on whether to replace the gearbox and take a penalty or simply attempt to run the engine through another race weekend, Mercedes opted to take the penalty and increase their chances that Hamilton will make it to the end of the race.
The Brit ensured his fans that he was not on a downward spiral, having said on Monday, “I’m in the best place I’ve ever been psychologically. There’s very little, if anything at all, that can penetrate that.” He also went on to remind everyone about his past success at the Shanghai International Circuit and that he was hoping to channel this past success to make this year’s Chinese Grand Prix a “turning point” for his World Championship battle.
Although he’s not out of contention for the race win, his starting position is limited to P6 at maximum, which isn’t a bad thing for fans, since it is often entertaining to watch Hamilton battle his way through the field. On the other side of the garage, Nico Rosberg will be looking to increase his World Drivers’ Championship lead and help to strengthen Mercedes’ World Constructors’ Championship advantage over Ferrari.
The cars hit the track in only a few days’ time at the Shanghai International Circuit for this year’s Chinese Grand Prix.
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