BAKÚ, Sept. 15 (dpa/EP) –
British driver Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) will start the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the seventeenth round of the Formula 1 World Championship, from the pit lane after his team fitted a new engine before the race.
The seven-time world champion qualified seventh on Saturday but the FIA confirmed Hamilton had fitted his fifth engine of the season, exceeding the four allocated.
Mercedes has also made changes to the suspension of Hamilton’s car, who will be joined in the pit lane by Frenchman Esteban Ocon of Alpine, who has also received a new engine.
Hamilton’s grid penalty moves title contender Lando Norris up to 15th. The McLaren driver was eliminated from Q1 on Saturday, blaming yellow flags at the final corner for failing to set a fast enough time.
He qualified 17th but will start 15th after Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpine) was disqualified from qualifying for his car violating FIA technical regulations.
Norris will be looking to limit the damage in his pursuit of Max Verstappen. He is 62 points behind the three-time world champion and has closed the gap on the Dutchman by 16 points in the last two races. Verstappen qualified sixth, with Monaco’s Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), who is 86 points behind the Red Bull driver in the championship, on pole position.