BREAKING: Hamilton hit with five-place grid penalty!

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes has been hit with a grid penalty of five places on Sunday after the Brit will need a change of gearboxes.

Not the start of the weekend Hamilton would have been waiting for. The Brit was let down by his team in Australia, as an error in the tactics of the German team caused Hamilton to be overtaken by Vettel after pitting, costing him the victory.

The reasons for Hamilton's sudden need for a gearbox change haven't been given yet, nor has the FIA officially given the penalty, but multiple sources that are close to both parties have come out with this scoop, so it only seems like a matter of time before the FIA will release its statement.

His teammate Valtteri Bottas already needed a gearbox change in Australia, after crashing his W09 hard during qualifying, totalling his gearbox.

The automatic penalty for the change of a gearbox is five places.