According to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, Rubens Barrichello will drop five places down the Malaysian grand prix grid because his gearbox has had to be changed.
The Brazilian's team boss Ross Brawn admitted prior to the weekend that he is concerned about the reliability of the BGP001's transmission.
Referring to the gearbox, which after the switch from Honda to Mercedes power for 2009 had to be tweaked, he said: "For the moment that is our achilles heel.
"We are not yet over that mountain," he added.
