Ferrari Fined, Ralf Reprimanded

Ferrari were hit with a $10,000 fine for a pitlane incident involving Rubens Barrichello during the Bahrain Grand Prix, while Ralf Schumacher was reprimanded for his collision with Takuma Sato.

World Champions Ferrari were found guilty of releasing Barrichello, who finished in second place behind teammate Michael Schumacher, from his pit box in front of rival Jarno Trulli during the first round of pit-stops.

Race stewards viewed video evidence and heard independent versions of the event from Ferrari and Renault and deemed that "Ferrari released their car after a pitstop when it was not safe to do so."

Barrichello had pleaded his innocence after the race and said: "I was coming down the pitlane and he cut across me and I had to brake. When I saw him I actually braked to avoid him because he was going past me. The team told me to keep on pushing because I might get a penalty because of that. It was a bit worrying but it was not my intention to block Jarno at that point."

Williams driver Ralf Schumacher was given the reprimand after stewards decided he was at fault for the collision with BAR-Honda's Sato early in the race. The two touched heading into turn two and Schumacher was sent into a spin, but stewards declared that the German driver had not left Sato enough room and was at fault.

Under a new system introduced by the sport's governing body, the FIA, this year any driver with three reprimands from the stewards during the season will be punished with a race ban.