The race stewards have decided to penalise Michael Schumacher for overtaking Alonso at the last turn in breach of article 40.13 of the sporting regulations. Schumacher was handed a 20 second time penalty added to his time in lieu of a drive through.
This drops Michael to 12th and puts Alonso back in 6th place ahead of Rosberg, Sutil, Liuzzi and Buemi.
Article 40.13 of the sporting regulations states:
If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking
The Mercedes team disagrees on this ruling and are appealing the decision even though the penalty cannot be overturned as it is in lieu of a drive through penallty.
Ross Brawn said:
With regard to the penalty given to Michael, we believed that the track had gone green and the race was not finishing under a safety car when article 40.13 clearly would have applied. The reason for the safety car had been removed, the FIA had announced 'Safety Car in this lap' early on lap 78 and the track had been declared clear by race control. This was further endorsed when the marshals showed green flags and lights after safety car line one. On previous occasions when it has been necessary to complete a race under a safety car, full course yellows are maintained, as in Melbourne 2009. On the last lap, we therefore advised our drivers that they should race to the line and Michael made his move on Fernando for sixth place. We have appealed the decision of the stewards
Related:
Stewards penalty drops Schumacher out of points
Mercedes to appeal Schumacher penalty decision
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