Sebastian Vettel will serve a five-place grid penalty in Russia after Ferrari changed his gearbox on Friday evening.
Vettel had already endured a tough day, breaking down midway through FP2 with what was believed to be a electrical issue, before the FIA confirmed the Ferrari driver had a new gearbox fitted. Under the regulations a gearbox must last for six consecutive races before being changed and any change before that time will result in a penalty.
Vettel's gearbox has only lasted three full race weekends so he will start five places down from wherever he qualifies on Saturday afternoon. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton had a similar penalty in China for a gearbox change following damage sustained at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The penalty will be a blow for Ferrari, with the team introducing a new engine upgrade this weekend to close the gap to Mercedes. Ferrari has already squandered several opportunities to take the fight to Mercedes through a mixture of reliability issues and a collision between Vettel and teammate Kimi Raikkonen at the first corner of the Chinese Grand Prix.