Formula 1 News

Barrichello to receive five-place grid penalty 

Brawn GP’s veteran driver Rubens Barrichello will get a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix after his team decided at the end of the free practice sessions to change the gearbox on his BGP001.

Article 28.6 Paragraph a of the FIA Formula 1 Sporting Regulations states that gearboxes must last for four consecutive Grand Prix:

Each driver may use no more than one gearbox for four consecutive Events in which his team competes. Should a driver use a replacement gearbox he will drop five places on the starting grid at that Event and an additional five places each time a further gearbox is used.

In the meantime, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton has been fined for the second time in this weekend for exceeding the pit lane speed limit: 1200 euros the first fine, 900 the second.