How much fuel can a car run in 3rd qualifying if the driver has already got a grid penalty?

May be...

If Hamilton starts from 11th and down he can choose how much fuel he can run in the race right?
Since that's where he's going to end up in France can he qualify on near empty tanks?

Since they're not going to assess the penalties on Hamilton and Rosberg until AFTER qualifying....if I were those guys, given the performance of the kind of cars they have, I would run extremely heavy and go on a one stop strategy.

They'll be able to make up more positions on the track that way. Since Rosberg doesn't have a 10 place penalty like Hamilton, however, he might go about 2/3 full and go for a 2 stopper since his car isn't as fast as Hamilton, and needs to make up more ground on the grid in qualifying. Then again, Rosberg might just qualify on the sniff of an oily rag and try to start in the top 10. Any way you look at it, Hamilton's got his work cut out for him.

That's what I though too. penalties aren't enforced until after qualifying so it stands to reason Q3 rules apply to Lewis and Nico regardless of where they eventually do end up on the grid.

Rosbif is spot on, as usual.

The rules for Q3 is: �Fuel may not be added to nor removed from any car eligible to take part in Q3 between the start of Q3 and the start of the race, unless any eligible car was unable to take part.’ (The unable to take part is usually an accident)

I would suggest that Hamilton starts from the rear, not bothering to qualify. He shouldnt be racing in that McLaren if he cannot gain 10 places in ten laps. And this should be the same situation if he had qualified in pole with about 5 or 6 laps worth of fuel and went for a splash and dash.

In my understanding, cars in Q3 are not allowed to refuel, whether they have a grid penalty or not. He'd be best off qualifying on half-tanks, probably ending up behind the two Ferraris, Kovalainen and the two BMWs and settling for starting about 16th but with a good race strategy in place. The difference to him of starting 11th or 18th isn't so great that it's worth making a mess of his race strategy over.