Lewis Hamilton has taken a step closer to incurring a grid penalty after taking on a fresh power unit for the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend, meaning he is now on his fifth and final turbocharger and MGU-H.
The Mercedes driver suffered a spate of reliability troubles in the opening races of the season which saw him burn through several power unit components well ahead of their scheduled introduction.
Those failures and the decision to install a completely new power unit this weekend, now means Hamilton is on his fifth turbocharger, fifth MGU-H, fourth energy store and fourth control electronics.
Should a driver use a sixth of any component, they will be hit with a ten-place grid penalty, something Hamilton says is now "inevitable" before the season is out.
The Briton must now consider which races it makes the most sense to incur such a penalty.
"I will try to find a circuit where I feel I will be able to get the furthest up, and maybe a track where I might be able to catch up, even challenge for the win, that's my thought process," he is quoted as saying by Autosport.
"I have to go into it thinking I can still win it. There could be safety cars, there could be all sorts of things, obviously I have to have an optimistic view on it."
Team-mate Nico Rosberg and Mercedes customer car drivers are currently on his second of every component.
