Wehrlein set for gearbox penalty in Japan

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Pascal Wehrlein is set to receive a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Drivers are required to use a gearbox for six consecutive events as part of the 2016 regulations, with penalties if they do not do so. FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer reported Wehrlein will use a new gearbox this weekend at Suzuka, which is in breach of regulations.

"The above driver (Wehrlein) did finish the last race in Sepang and this gearbox change was before the six consecutive Events expired," Bauer's report read.

The Manor team also broke the curfew preventing personnel from working on the car during an 8.5-hour period on Friday night. Each team has two exemptions it can use when breaking the curfew each season and as this is the first occasion Manor has done so in 2016 there is no penalty.

Sebastian Vettel is the other driver currently with a grid penalty to be taken at Suzuka, with the Ferrari driver set to drop three places as a result of his collision with Nico Rosberg at the start of the Malaysian Grand Prix last weekend.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.