Bottas on the brink of penalties after PU change

Valtteri Bottas is at risk of future grid penalties after taking a third internal combustion engine of the season for the British Grand Prix. Mercedes have been pushed into the switch following Bottas' retirement in Austria last week due to a hydraulic issue.

Although Bottas is permitted to use his fresh engine at Silverstone without punishment, if his previous PU cannot be salvaged he will be certain to take a penalty before the season is over.

Mercedes will test Bottas previous engine at the German Grand Prix in order to ascertain whether it can be used in races.

NEWS: @ValtteriBottas will take a third Power Unit for the #BritishGP ???????? This is a precaution after we suffered high temps on his second PU from heat soak following his retirement in Austria. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/Mc4sOuRjS1 — Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) July 6, 2018

NEWS: This does not mean Power Unit 2 is out of service. It will be thoroughly checked and used again for the #GermanGP. @ValtteriBottas will not take a penalty as we remain within the permitted contingent of components. #BritishGP 2/2 pic.twitter.com/AxUG9iqvHh — Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) July 6, 2018

Lewis Hamilton also retired at the Red Bull Ring with a fuel pump problem, although the champion's second PU of the campaign remains good to use at Silverstone as he seeks a record-breaking sixth victory at his home event.

"Coming here there's been some fixes already," Hamilton said on Thursday. "Immediately after the race, as soon as they got the car back, I think that evening there was a fix that was designed and put into test mode.

"So, the team was super on it and I'm confident we've done everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen again."