Gearbox woe for Lewisposted in F109 | 10 | 2010

FORMER WORLD champ Lewis Hamilton's bid to clinch the 2010 title was dealt another blow today after he was given a penalty for changing the gearbox on his McLaren-Mercedes. Hamilton has failed to score in the last two grands prix.

"In today's practice we noticed abnormal gearbox oil pressure on Lewis's car which we believed we had corrected ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session," a McLaren spokesman said.

"This afternoon, as we fired up Lewis's car several times in preparation for qualifying, we became aware the symptoms were worse than we'd originally diagnosed and a decision was taken to change the gearbox ahead of tomorrow's qualifying session and the grand prix.

"As a result, Lewis will receive a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow's race."

The Englishman, already 20 points adrift of the Red Bull of championship leader Mark Webber with just four races remaining, will go into tomorrow morning's qualifying session five hours ahead of the start of the race. The latest setback is just another in Hamilton's miserable weekend after he crashed out of the first practice session on Friday.

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