Grid penalties for Verstappen, Leclerc can open the door to Hamilton's first win in 2022

Lewis Hamilton has been handed the best chance of winning his first race of the season after Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were dealt grid penalties for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.

Verstappen, who has been an unstoppable force this year, and Leclerc - the Ferrari driver whose title challenge has faltered through faults by man and machine - are among six drivers to be punished for exceeding their number of allocated engine parts as Formula 1 returns to action following its summer shutdown.

McLaren's Lando Norris, Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas, Alpine driver Esteban Ocon and Mick Schumacher of Haas will also be penalised.

Depending on how the penalties unravel, Verstappen and Leclerc will start somewhere in the final quarter of the 20-man grid for Sunday's 44-lap race at Spa-Francorchamps.

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Valtteri left his mark on the Spa track... literally ?#BelgianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/LmUJvPkcCj

A 14-race wait

After losing out so controversially to Verstappen in last year's contentious title decider in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton endured a turbulent start to the season in his under-performing Mercedes machinery.

But the 37-year-old headed into the recent one-month break with renewed vigour following five consecutive podiums, including two back-to-back runner-up finishes in France and Hungary at the end of July.

READ: WRAP | 2022 Belgian Grand Prix - Verstappen tops 2nd Practice

When Hamilton takes to the grid here, 265 days will have passed since his last triumph: victory in Saudi Arabia, the penultimate round of last season.

It is a losing streak of 14 races - the longest Hamilton has had to endure in his 15-and-a-half seasons in the sport - but the