Grid penalty for Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has been hit with a five-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hamilton suffered a left-rear tyre failure on his Mercedes on his in-lap at the end of final practice, which also resulted in damage to the suspension.

As a consequence of changing the left-rear corner of the car, the team have also had to replace the gearbox, resulting in the grid penalty.

Although on pole position a week ago in China, from where the 28-year-old finished third, balance issues have affected Hamilton so far this weekend at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Hamilton finished fourth quickest in final practice, just over two tenths of a second behind Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton is the third driver to face a penalty for tomorrow's race as Mark Webber was handed a three-place drop after colliding with Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne in Shanghai.

Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez will also drop five places following qualifying after he ran into the back of Force India's Adrian Sutil in the same race.