Audi accept Ekstrom penalty

The Swede dived into the pits shortly after the safety car had been deployed and, when he made his stop, the pitlane was not open.

Race officials ordered Ekstrom to make an extra pitstop in the closing laps of the race, which dropped him from fourth to 10th place.

Audi's head of motorsport Wolfgang Ullrich said: "According to the regulations the decision was right. Mattias turned into the pits when there was a red light."

Ullrich added that the 2004 champion had come in by mistake though, as the team were having radio problems throughout the race.

"We were having big communication problems with that car," he said. "It's difficult when we can't talk to the driver.

"But the pit was closed, and he wasn't allowed to come in. It was a mistake."

Ekstrom had been sharing the championship lead with Martin Tomczyk and Paul di Resta before last weekend, but he is now joint second in the standings, eight points behind di Resta.