Lewis Hamilton has been handed a boost ahead of Sunday's Russian Grand Prix with the news that he will not incur a grid penalty following his latest engine failure in qualifying.
Hamilton's Mercedes team flew replacement parts on a private jet from their Brixworth base in a mammoth bid to avoid the Briton having to start from the pit lane under Formula One's complex engine rules.
The world champion will now line up in 10th after the engine he used at the first race in Australia was re-fitted to his Mercedes in addition to the extra parts which arrived in Sochi in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Hamilton, a winner here in each of the two occasions the race has been staged on the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, still faces an improbable task of preventing team-mate Nico Rosberg from securing his fourth victory of the season.
Rosberg, 36 points clear in the race for the Formula One title, cruised to pole position after Hamilton was unable to post a lap in the top-10 shoot-out following his engine failure - his second in as many grands prix.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, the four-time champion, set the second fastest time, but will start from seventh after serving a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.
Source: PA
