Lewis Hamilton's grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix has risen to 55 places after Mercedes opted to change his engine for a third time on Saturday morning.
The championship leader will therefore start from 22nd position behind Fernando Alonso and Marcus Ericsson, both of which have engine penalties too, the former a 35-place drop and the latter just ten places.
Mercedes chose to install a new engine for the race this weekend as the Briton was previously on his fifth and final MGU-H and turbocharger, therefore it made sense for the team, which introduced an upgraded spec this weekend, to serve a penalty at Spa where overtaking is easier than at most circuits.
The team then changed it a second time on Friday to tactically build a pool of components for the remaining nine races and to ensure the Briton doesn't have to serve another penalty later in the season. That took his grid drop to 30 places.
On Saturday morning, Mercedes installed a third new unit, adding an additional 25 places to Hamilton's penalty as he took a sixth internal combustion engine, his sixth MGU-K, an eighth MGU-H and an eighth turbocharger.
That takes his total penalty to 55-places, although he can only drop to the back of the grid, a maximum of 21 places.
