Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel will pay a hefty price for his first race finish of the Formula One season by losing five places on the Monaco Grand Prix starting grid this weekend because of an unscheduled gearbox change, his team said.

Vettel's Ferrari-powered team confirmed earlier this week they would debut their new STR3 car in the Mediterranean principality, meaning a different gearbox for the 20-year-old German.

With gearboxes having to last four races in a row, and the new car having a completely different one to the 2007 model, that means a heavy penalty at a circuit where overtaking is extremely difficult.

The penalty does not apply to those who failed to finish the previous race, meaning that Vettel's French team-mate Sebastien Bourdais escapes any sanction after spinning off into the gravel and retiring in Istanbul.

The Turkish Grand Prix was Vettel's first race finish since he came fourth in China last October.

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