Maldonado handed three-place grid penalty for impeding 01 Sep 2012
Williams’ Pastor Maldonado has been handed a three-place grid penalty by the Belgian stewards for blocking during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Spa-Francorchamps race. Maldonado had qualified in third.
After reviewing evidence, the stewards decided the Venezuelan had impeded the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg in Q1. He will now start Sunday’s race from sixth on the grid.
He is the third driver to receive a grid penalty this weekend. Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg will both drop five places after their cars underwent unscheduled gearbox changes.
When all the penalties are taken into consideration, the starting order should be: Button, Kobayashi; Raikkonen, Perez; Alonso, Maldonado; Hamilton, Grosjean; Di Resta, Vettel; Hulkenberg, Webber; Schumacher, Massa; Vergne, Ricciardo; Senna, Kovalainen; Petrov, Glock; De la Rosa, Pic; Rosberg, Karthikeyan.
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