Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen will both be forced to start from the pitlane in Hungary after their respective teams were forced to build up their cars around the spare chassis overnight, which leads to an automatic penalty.
Hamilton’s Mercedes was obviously badly damaged by the fuel fire that took hold early in Q1, and Paddy Lowe confirmed to this writer that the change will be made. McLaren discovered that Magnussen’s car had suffered both gearbox and chassis damage in his impact with the tyre wall at the start of Q3.
Eric Boullier said: “The track conditions at that particular corner took everyone by surprise, and Kevin was powerless to avoid locking the wheels and hitting the wall. Of course, the good news is that he’s safe and well; the bad news is that his chassis and gearbox are quite significantly damaged, and both will need to be changed this evening.”