Hamilton handed grid penalty

Lewis Hamilton's Japanese Grand Prix nightmare intensified when McLaren said their Formula One title contender would have a five-place penalty on the starting grid for a gearbox change

"In P3 (final practice) today, we noticed abnormal gearbox oil pressure on Lewis's car which we believed we had corrected ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session," the team said in a 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."

Qualifying could not take place on Saturday due to heavy rain at Suzuka and was postponed to Sunday morning.

Hamilton, the 2008 champion who has failed to finish three of his last four races, has completed only a handful of laps so far after crashing in Friday's first practice and missing most of the second.

Like most drivers, he failed to set a timed lap in Saturday's final session.

Hamilton is third overall, 20 points behind Red Bull's championship leader Mark Webber with four races remaining including Sunday.

Yahoo Sports