As F1 heads out of the summer break and into the second half of the season the next round will resume this weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes will plan to receive a grid demotion of at least 10 places depending on where Hamilton finishes in qualifying. So why are they doing this? The reason why Mercedes are taking this action is because Hamilton’s current engine is going critical and has reached the allowable limit for two of the six power unit elements. Rather than suffer a racing retirement the plan is to change the engine during the free practice sessions. The FIA rules governing engine usage is complex and confusing. In simple terms each driver has an allocation of four engines/power units per season. The engine is theoretically divided into six parts, changing a component that is about to become critical and potentially fail will incur a penalty demotion of between 5 or 10 grid places. A replacement power unit, that is a brand new spanking engine will force the driver to start the race from the pit. For Hamilton it is expected that changing one of the six parts will incur a 10 place grid demotion. Hamilton has suffered from early season reliability issues that has cost him championship points. He has known a grid demotion has been coming for some time based on power-unit data and analysis. Mercedes want Hamilton to suffer a demotion over single weekend and the Belgian GP looks like an ideal place. With long straights and fast corners Spa Francorchamps is a power circuit and Mercedes are expected to dominate the weekend. In addition should Hamilton start the race in 10th the raw pace of the Mercedes should allow him to take advantage of the power and aero superiority of his F1 W07. The Belgian Grand Prix circuit is without any doubt the best racing circuit in the world. The Kemmel Straight is usually where most of the overtaking is executed. With the Mercedes power unit at his disposal Hamilton should have superior straightline speed. For Hamilton the Belgian Grand Prix will be about damage limitation and trying to secure a podium finish.