Button given 5-place penalty at Japanese Grand Prix
Purchase this article for republication
Buy SPH photos
File photo of McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button of Great Britain in the garage ahead of practice two of the SingTel Singapore Grand Prix 2012 Formula One race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sept 21, 2012. -- ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
LONDON (REUTERS) - McLaren's Jenson Button will take a five-place penalty on the Japanese Grand Prix starting grid this weekend due to an unscheduled gearbox change.
The Briton, who won at Suzuka last year, finished second in Singapore but McLaren discovered after the race that his car's gearbox had the same problem that forced team-mate Lewis Hamilton to retire while leading.
Button is a long shot for the title, currently sixth overall and 75 points adrift of Ferrari's championship leader Fernando Alonso with six races remaining.
Hamilton, the 2008 champion who has announced his departure for Mercedes at the end of the season, will also have a new gearbox but escapes any penalty due to his failure to finish in Singapore.
