Speaking in the Shanghai paddock, Hamilton, the pole-sitter in Australia and Malaysia, confirmed that he will start Sunday's race no higher than sixth with the change triggering a mandatory grid demotion.

"We have a gearbox issue and we will change it on Saturday morning so I will get a five-place penalty, but hopefully we will be quick enough to still move forward."

Indeed, despite the substantial setback, the 2008 World Champion was insistent that the demotion will not end his chances of claiming his first victory of the season.

"We can still have a good weekend. I started from third last year here and won, and in the last race the driver who won [Fernando Alonso] started quite far back, so anything is possible.

"I don't like starting at the back and not going anywhere, but if you have a quick car, which we do, then we still have a fighting chance from wherever I have to start. I'll try to minimise the damage by trying to qualify as high as possible," the McLaren driver told Sky Sports News.