• Monaco GP

Bianchi hit with five-place grid drop for gearbox change

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Jules Bianchi will start from the back row of the grid at Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix after incurring a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.

The Marussia team discovered the problem overnight, meaning Bianchi, who originally qualified 19th, will start from 21st on the gird. Marcus Ericsson, who qualified 22nd, will start from the pit lane as a penalty for making contact with Felipe Massa at Mirabeau towards the end of Q1.

"Unfortunately, having spent some time looking at Jules' gearbox last night, we have found a problem and had to change it this morning," the team tweeted. "We'll take a five-place grid penalty for Jules for the change, which is for reliability reasons but would have affected his quali session."

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