Bottas gets gearbox penalty at Silverstone

Valtteri Bottas will take a five-place grid penalty ahead of the British Grand Prix as a result of an unscheduled gearbox change.

Mercedes announced the need to make a change at the end of a day where Bottas had been quickest in both of the Friday practice sessions. With the Finn’s current gearbox having not completed the mandatory six consecutive events, a change leads to an automatic five-place grid penalty to be applied after qualifying.

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The news follows a similar problem for Lewis Hamilton a week ago, when Mercedes noticed damage to Hamilton’s gearbox following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku and had to make an unscheduled change in Austria. Hamilton qualified third but started eighth as a result, and his recovery was limited to fourth in the race, which Bottas won.

Explaining the need for Bottas to take a new gearbox, a Mercedes spokesperson said: “His gearbox was damaged in the same way as Lewis’ but less severely, and we had hoped to coax it to the end of the cycle. However, we have not been able to do so.

“The cause of the damage is understood and now behind us, just as for Lewis’ problem… the problem is understood and contained since Austria.”

Following his victory in Austria, Bottas had moved to within 15 points of teammate Hamilton in the drivers’ championship and was 35 points behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton was second fastest in both of Friday’s practice sessions at Silverstone, within 0.1s of Bottas on both occasions.