Stewards disqualify Sato, penalise Albers 01 Oct 2006
Super Aguri’s Takuma Sato has lost his 14th-place finish in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix after stewards disqualified him for blocking faster drivers during the Shanghai race.
Sato was the backmarker involved in a final-lap incident, which culminated in Honda’s Rubens Barrichello running into the rear of Nick Heidfeld’s BMW Sauber.
The severity of Sato’s punishment reflects the fact that he has already been reprimanded for ignoring blue flags this season, in Australia back in April.
Spyker MF1's Christijan Albers was also penalized by Shanghai stewards for the same offence. The Dutchman had 25 seconds added to his race time, but actually moved up from 16th to 15th place thanks to Sato’s exclusion.
