Formula One news

Gearbox change drops Hamilton to last

Lewis Hamilton will be starting from the back of the grid in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix after the McLaren team received a five-place grid penalty as a result of a post-qualifying gearbox change. Having qualified sixteenth after a crash on Saturday, the World Champion will now start from either the pit lane or twentieth spot on the grid.

Hamilton will have a series of hurdles to jump from twentieth at the start on Sunday

Tipped as a dark horse for victory in Monte-Carlo this weekend, Hamilton's challenge had already been made all the more difficult after an unforced error not only brought out the red flags but saw the 2008 Champion plummet to 16th position in qualifying.

With knowledge of their driver's lowly grid position, however, the Woking-based team elected to change the gearbox ahead of the race and consequently pay the prize of five grid positions for doing so. "We have collectively decided that we have to change the gearbox because of damage," team principal Martin Whitmarsh revealed, "so he will be starting from the back." With the gearbox unit located at the rear of the car, the Woking-based squad's analysis revealed that the qualifying crash impact would result in further gremlins during Sunday's race.

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