Mercedes is "optimistic" Nico Rosberg will not need to take a gearbox penalty at this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix.
Rosberg lost seventh gear during the closing laps of the British Grand Prix, and later received a time penalty after being informed to avoid seventh but to shift through it to eighth. Rosberg managed to finish the race in second place but the penalty demoted him to third behind Max Verstappen.
Despite the reliability concern, Mercedes says it will use the same gearbox from Silverstone during Friday practice for the Hungarian Grand Prix "and are optimistic it will be [okay]."
A change of gearbox before the end of a six-race cycle results in an automatic five-place grid penalty. Rosberg last received a new gearbox at the Austrian Grand Prix - two races ago - as a result of a crash suffered in FP3, which also saw him receive a penalty.
Rosberg has seen his championship lead cut from 43 points over team-mate Lewis Hamilton following the Spanish Grand Prix to just one point after Hamilton's win at Silverstone.
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