HAMILTON IN EARLY ENGINE TROUBLE

Mercedes ace could face grid penalties after scraping of power unit due to failure

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Lewis Hamilton's early season woes have been compounded by Mercedes confirming on April 5 that the seven-time world champion has already lost one of his four allotted engines, meaning he could face grid penalties later in the season.

Hamilton, in his final season with the Silver Arrows before he joins Ferrari in 2025, retired from the Australian Grand Prix after a sudden power unit failure, which was later determined to be terminal.

"That one is for the bin," Mercedes' boss Toto Wolff told a press conference between the first practice sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka circuit.

"It is a very highly unusual failure that we have a hardware failure that we didn't see coming before. So yeah, we can't reuse that.

"And it depends how the season develops, whether we need one more or not. I can't really say at this stage."

Hamilton's teammate George Russell crashed in Melbourne, the first time both the team's drivers did not finish a race in five years.

Hamilton, who was third in the drivers' standings behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in 2023, is languishing in 10th this season.