Lewis Hamilton has been ruled out of Q3 at the Russian Grand Prix with an ERS problem.
The defending champion was second fastest in Q2 but did not emerge for the final part of qualifying as Mercedes confirmed a recurrence of the ERS problem which had struck him in China.
Hamilton suffered the issue on the out lap of his second run in Q2, leaving him tenth in the standings but facing the prospect of a penalty for any replacement parts.
Speaking to Sky Sports after being ruled out of the final part of qualifying, Hamilton said it was clear the issue was the same once he took to the track.
“It was the second engine that I took from the last race and the same failure that I had in the last race," Hamilton said.
“Nope [no warning], just went back out at the end of Q2 and I lost the same power as I lost in China.”
Sebastian Vettel already had a five-place grid penalty looming over him as a result of a gearbox change.
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