Five drivers given grid penalties
Five Formula 1 drivers were given penalties for not lifting off during a yellow-flag period in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix
Championship leader Jenson Button, team-mate Rubens Barrichello, Renault driver Fernando Alonso, Force India's Adrian Sutil and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi were given five-place grid penalties after the session.
The race stewards deemed the first four drivers had not lifted off sufficiently at the end of Q2, when Buemi had crashed, leaving debris on track.
Brawn team boss Ross Brawn said his drivers, who had not set a time until then, had not lifted at all.
"No, they swerved to avoid the problem. But they didn't lift off, no," said Brawn.
Swiss driver Buemi was also reprimanded by the stewards for driving back to the pits with a damaged car and impeding other drivers.
Button had qualified in seventh, Barrichello in fifth, Alonso in 12th, Sutil in fourth and Buemi in 10th.
Pos Driver Team 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2. Trulli Toyota 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 4. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 5. Raikkonen Ferrari 6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 7. Kubica BMW-Sauber 8. Sutil Force India-Mercedes * 9. Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes * 10. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 11. Button Brawn-Mercedes * 12. Fisichella Ferrari 13. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes ** 14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari * 15. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 16. Grosjean Renault 17. Alonso Renault * 18. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes ** 19. Glock Toyota *** 20. Webber Red Bull-Renault *** * Five-place grid penalty ** Five-place grid penalty for changing gearbox *** Will use new chassis so will start from the pitlane
Previous article
Post-qualifying press conference - Japan
Next article
Alguersuari: Degner speeds higher in '09
About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Author | Pablo Elizalde |
The toe-in-water origins of Lotus’s groundbreaking F1 journey
In the first part of our history of Lotus, DAMIEN SMITH recalls how Formula 1 wasn’t an immediate priority for team founder Colin Chapman – but once he got a taste for it he just couldn’t stop…
How Hamilton’s qualifying record compares to Senna and Schumacher
Lewis Hamilton has just become the first driver to record 100 world championship Formula 1 pole positions. Time to revisit a debate we discussed when he reached 150 front row starts in 2020.
Why sustainability is being mandated by F1
Continuing to be socially acceptable as public views shift globally is vitally important to the future of motor racing, says PAT SYMONDS - especially in Formula 1, the championship that represents the technological peak
The Barcelona practice times that prove Red Bull's title credentials, and heap pressure on Verstappen
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes led the way in Friday practice for the 2021 Spanish Grand Prix, but there was one big encouraging sign for Red Bull. The trouble is, it looks like making good on that gain will require its superstar driver to avoid repeating a mistake made today that left him well down the FP2 order
Why McLaren doesn’t doubt Ricciardo can escape his ‘dark’ place
Three points finishes from as many starts represents a decent opening innings on paper, but Daniel Ricciardo has endured a tough start to his McLaren career - only magnified his team-mate's excellent form. Yet both he and the team have good reason to expect a turnaround soon
What needs to “change” for Red Bull is ending Verstappen’s errors
OPINION: Going up against the dominant force of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton was always going to demand the best from Red Bull and Max Verstappen. But after making a couple more errors during the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Dutch driver showed there's a small gap he still needs to close in the 2021 Formula 1 title fight
The "subtle" Red Bull upgrades that kept it in the Portugal F1 mix
Red Bull's Portuguese Grand Prix fortunes were decidedly second best to Mercedes', but the result skews the potential that the team had at Portimao. With a new set of updates, the team looks good going forward into the rest of 2021's spicy F1 competition
Portuguese Grand Prix Driver Ratings
The 2021 Portuguese GP will for several drivers go down as a weekend of missed opportunities amid imperfect track conditions that caused struggles with tyre warmup. But the performances of a select few stood out from the crowd
