page_title: 2015 Belgian Grand Prix
section_title: Penalties
hierarchical_section_title: 2015 Belgian Grand Prix / Report / Penalties
caption_attribution_description: English: Jenson Button at the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix
context_page_description: The 2015 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 23 August 2015 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium. It was the eleventh round of the 2015 Formula One season, and the 71st Belgian Grand Prix.
  Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes entered the event as the overall Drivers' Championship leader, 21 points ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg and 42 points ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Mercedes led the Constructors' Championship by 147 points over Ferrari, while Williams entered the event in third, a further 85 points adrift. Having won the 2014 edition, Daniel Ricciardo was the defending race winner.
  Lewis Hamilton won the race for Mercedes, extending his championship lead over Rosberg, who finished second, to 28 points. Romain Grosjean and Lotus secured a podium finish for the first time since the 2013 United States Grand Prix, benefitting from a controversial tyre failure on Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari late in the race.
  The race was celebrated by Scuderia Ferrari as their 900th Grand Prix participation. McLaren was handed a record 105-place grid penalty for a multitude of changes to their Honda power units.
context_section_description: McLaren, who were expected to benefit from the start changes, were set to start the race from the back of the grid. After they had already been allowed to use one additional power unit in the 2015 season, the team had used their sixth power unit for the Hungarian Grand Prix, and now equipped both cars with a seventh, heavily revised version of their power unit for Belgium on Friday. McLaren made another power unit change on Saturday, since a mid-season change in regulations meant that penalties could no longer result in in-race time penalties. The cumulative 105-place grid penalty set a new record in Formula One.
  Max Verstappen received a ten-place grid penalty after he equipped his sixth power unit on Friday. After Lotus changed the gearbox on Romain Grosjean's car on Saturday, Grosjean was handed a five-place grid penalty, moving him from fourth to ninth on the grid. For the same reason, Kimi Räikkönen received a five-place grid penalty, which only set him back two places due to penalties of other drivers.
caption: Jenson Button expected a "lonely race" after a poor qualifying and a grid penalty.
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