McLaren's Lewis Hamilton hit by grid penalty in Japan

JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
Venue: Suzuka Circuit Date: 10 October, race 0700 BST.
Coverage: BBC One, BBC Radio 5 live and sports extra and text commentary on the BBC Sport website Find complete listings here

Hamilton's title chances have suffered another big setback

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton has been penalised five places on the grid for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix for changing his gearbox.

McLaren made the change after noticing abnormal gearbox oil pressure during the final practice session.

However Hamilton avoided a further penalty when stewards rejected a complaint of he had blocked Williams' Nico Hulkenberg during qualifying.

Hamilton will start the race from eighth position on the grid.

Hamilton completed just three laps during the rain-affected final practice, none of which were timed.

606: DEBATE

If the race is wet, Hamilton may still have a chance of a win or a solid podium

cham

The McLaren team decided to make the change and accept the penalty rather than risk using the damaged gearbox.

"In P3 [final practice] we noticed abnormal gearbox oil pressure on Lewis's car which we believed we had corrected ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session," read a McLaren team statement.

"This afternoon, as we fired up Lewis's car several times in preparation for qualifying, we became aware that the symptoms were worse than we'd originally diagnosed.

"A decision was later 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 grid penalty comes as another blow to Hamilton's title hopes, which have already suffered after he failed to finish in three of the last four races - twice because he damaged his car in failed overtaking manoeuvres.

The 25-year-old Hamilton is 20 points behind championship leader Mark Webber.