Formula 1 News

McLaren-Mercedes duo get five place grid penalty 

Both McLaren-Mercedes drivers, Hamilton and Kovalainen, got a 5-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race at Sepang International Circuit for blocking Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso on their final flying laps during the Qualifying Session. Heikki Kovalainen has been demoted to 8th position while Lewis Hamilton to 9th. Earlier in the morning Heidfeld and Alonso made a complaint to race officials and after several hours the stewards decided to punish both drivers.

The Briton was punished for blocking Heidfeld, while the Finn for blocking both Heidfeld and Alonso.

McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh said: “We accept the stewards’ decisions, but would like to add that neither Lewis nor Heikki impeded any of their competitors deliberately. It was an unfortunate incident, nothing more, nothing less. We look forward to tomorrow’s race.”

Provisional, revised start grid:

1. Felipe Massa, Ferrari
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
3. Jarno Trulli, Toyota
4. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber
5. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber
6. Mark Webber, Red Bull
7. Fernando Alonso, Renault
8. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren *
9. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren *
10. Timo Glock, Toyota
11. Jenson Button, Honda
12. David Coulthard, Red Bull
13. Nelson Piquet, Renault
14. Rubens Barrichello, Honda
15. Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso
16. Nico Rosberg, Williams
17. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India
18. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso
19. Takuma Sato, Super Aguri
20. Adrian Sutil, Force India
21. Anthony Davidson, Super Aguri
22. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams **

* = 5-place grid penalty for blocking

** = 10-place grid penalty for Australian GP crash