Mercedes' second penalty in a week; Bottas had topped both of Friday's practice sessions; Finn's gearbox damaged in "the same way" as Lewis Hamilton's was ahead of Austrian GP
Monday 31 July 2017 11:41, UK
Valtteri Bottas has received a five-place grid penalty at the British GP for an unscheduled gearbox change.
It is the second such infringement to disrupt the world champions in a week after team-mate Lewis Hamilton suffered an identical punishment in Austria.
Bottas topped both of Friday's practice sessions, but the highest he will start Sunday's race at Silverstone is sixth after the punishment.
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Mercedes have had to change his gearbox before it has completed its mandatory six races, with a five-place grid demotion the automatic sanction.
The team have confirmed that Bottas' gearbox was damaged in the same way as Hamilton's in Baku, albeit less severely, but they are now confident the issue is "understood and contained".
A fresh gearbox was installed on Bottas' car at May's Monaco GP after he retired in Spain and was not scheduled to be changed until after the summer break in Belgium, in two races' time.
Bottas had reignited his world championship bid last weekend in Austria when victory took him to within 35 points of championship leader Sebastian Vettel and 15 of Hamilton.
After overcoming a challenging start to the season with what was initially an inconsistent 2017 car, Mercedes hold a 33-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship, yet have still had to contend with setbacks in recent weeks.
Hamilton lost a near-certain win in Baku due to a headrest problem, while the team have now suffered back-to-back gearbox penalties.
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