World Champion had already failed to set a laptime in Q3
Sebastian Vettel's problem-filled Spanish GP weekend has
taken a fresh hit following confirmation that his RB10 will require a new
gearbox, triggering an automatic five-place grid penalty.
The World Champion was already due to start down in tenth
place for Sunday's Barcelona race after the gearbox glitch struck at the start
of Q3 before he had chance to complete a timed lap in the final session.
Despite Vettel expressing hope that the unit would not
need to be changed for the race, Red Bull confirmed on Saturday evening that a
gearbox switch would be required on the RB10.
With the Sporting Regulations mandating that gearboxes
have to last for six consecutive races in 2014, Vettel's out-of-sequence change
incurs the standard five-place grid drop, meaning he will start 15th - his
lowest grid berth since the 2012 Abu Dhabi GP.
The 26-year-old has endured a nightmare weekend at
Barcelona having already lost most of Friday's running through an electrical
fault, and speaking prior to confirmation of his Sunday grid demotion, a
downcast Vettel admitted: "Of course it's disappointing and by now it's a
bit boring because we've had all sorts of problems."
With Red Bull having been usurped by Mercedes at the top
of the F1 tree following F1's rules reset, Vettel, who is also facing an
increased intra-team threat from new team-mate Daniel Ricciardo this year, is
already 46 points off the championship lead. Mercedes' front-row lock-out in
qualifying makes it likely that the reigning champion's points deficit will
stretch beyond the equivalent of two race victories by the end of Sunday's
66-lap race.
Culled from Skysports
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