12/10/2008
NEWS STORY
In a move which will create fresh unrest on some message boards and forums, not to mention sections of the media, Sebastien Bourdais has been handed a 25s penalty for an incident following his second pit stop in today's Japanese Grand Prix.
On exiting the pits, the Frenchman went into the first corner alongside Felipe Massa. The two touched as the Ferrari driver attempted go around the outside of the Toro Rosso causing the Brazilian to spin and lose further ground in his quest for championship points.
While there were 16 laps of the race remaining, the Race Stewards announced that they would investigate after the end of the race.
Having viewed video evidence of the incident and spoken to both drivers, Bourdais was handed a 25s penalty for causing a collision, a breach of Article 16.1 of the 2008 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, which drops him to tenth, but, more importantly promotes Massa to seventh, thereby reducing Hamilton's championship lead to 5 points.
Mark Webber gets 1 point for himself and Red Bull as he is promoted to eighth place.