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Mercedes have been hit with fresh concerns in the title battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after the FIA confirmed Lewis Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas will take another internal combustion engine [ICE] ahead of the United States Grand Prix.
Bottas will be hit with just a five-place grid penalty rather than 10 for the race as the Finn picks up his sixth new engine this season, with just three permitted at the start of the season.
Bottas is not in championship contention, but his team-mate is, sitting six points behind Verstappen in the driver standings, but another engine change raises further concerns that Mercedes also have an issue with their engines.
The British-based German outfit had already been forced to take a grid penalty for the seven-time world champion, as Hamilton picked up a fourth ICE ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix, with the team not wanting to risk a mechanical failure ahead of the race with just six remaining.
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