Lewis Hamilton takes a 10-place grid penalty in Turkey after Mercedes opts to issue him with a new ICE.

The highest that Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix is from 11th, after the world champion was given a new ICE (internal combustion engine).

While this means a 10-place grid penalty as opposed to starting from the back of the grid had he been issued with all the necessary elements, the fact is that he will start the race in the midst of the midfield.

"Lewis has taken a new Internal Combustion Engine for this event - his fourth ICE of the season," confirmed Mercedes during this morning's opening session, moments after the FIA had officially announced the move. "He will take a grid penalty for Sunday's Turkish GP."

With seven races remaining it was inevitable that Hamilton would take a new unit and the resultant penalty at some stage, rival, Max Verstappen having taken on a new unit in Russia.

"We're simulating all the races to the end of the year," Mercedes trackside engineering director, Andrew Shovlin told Sky Sports. "There's a balance of the risk of a reliability issue, obviously the thing you definitely don't want to do is fail during a race and then have to take a penalty anyway, and then there's the performance element because the power units do lose a bit of a horsepower over their life.

"It's better to take 10 places than start at the back," he added.

"It's a double-edged sword,” he admitted. “It does make it easier to recover, but could it have been a race that Lewis could have won from pole?

“Obviously that balance is one of the things we consider but it is what it is and we just need to make the most of getting back and hopefully even having a chance to win."

Check out our Friday gallery from Istanbul, here.