Sato stripped of qualifying time - updated 21 Aug 2005
Stewards at the Turkish Grand Prix have cancelled Takuma Sato’s qualifying time after the BAR driver impeded Mark Webber’s flying lap of the Istanbul Park circuit. Webber was forced to overtake Sato, who was on his slowing-down lap, costing him valuable time and possibly one or more grid positions.
Sato had set a time of 1m €0.175s for 14th place after running wide in Turn 8. The cancellation of his lap means Jordan’s Tiago Monteiro and Minardi’s Christijan Albers will both move up a place on the grid for Sunday’s race.
Four drivers - Jacques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher, Robert Doornbos and Narain Karthikeyan - failed to set times in qualifying, so it remains to be seen exactly where Sato will start. The FIA will publish the final grid order shortly before the start of the race - check our live commentary from 1455 local time (1155 GMT) for the latest details.
Note - following an engine change for Michael Schumacher overnight, as of Sunday morning the provisional grid lists the world champion as starting in 19th place. Villeneuve will now start 16th, Doornbos 17th, Karthikeyan 18th and Sato 20th.
