Adrian Sutil was predictably handed a grid penalty for his crucial block on Mark Webber during the first part of the qualifying session, though rather more unpredictably, the penalty was the rarely used three place grid drop.
Sutil made his error in the closing stages of the first 20 minute session, as he was attempting to secure a gap between himself and Fernando Alonso's Renault ahead. He swerved into the path of the flying Webber, on a hot lap that would have secured his passage to Q2 and forced the Red Bull man to swerve around him.The three place grid drop, a rarely used penalty last seen in action in Singapore last year when Nick Heidfeld was penalised the same amount for blocking Rubens Barrichello's Honda, sees Sutil drop to 19th on the grid, with Webber elevated to 18th, Fisichella to 17th and Sebastien Buemi up to 16th place.
Sutil was contrite after the session finished, saying that: "I was just trying to make a gap to Alonso to start my lap and Mark came in on a flying lap, but I didn't know that. I just tried to stay in my position to get a clear start to the lap. It was a misunderstanding and I apologised to Mark after the end of the session."
Webber seemed to bear no grudge against the German, but he was nevertheless despondant. "I don't usually get caught out with that problem and that was the worst place to get nailed, as it wrecked both my flying laps," he sighed, not agreeing with most people's idea of the worst place to get nailed, "I had nowhere to go in the last corner of my first lap and then Sutil slip-streamed past me for the start of my second, so it was a disaster."
| Bahrain GP Grid | ||
| Pos | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota |
| 2 | Timo Glock | Toyota |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull - Renault |
| 4 | Jenson Button | Brawn - Mercedes |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren - Mercedes |
| 6 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn - Mercedes |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari |
| 9 | Nico Rosberg | Williams - Toyota |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari |
| 11 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren - Mercedes |
| 12 | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams - Toyota |
| 13 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber |
| 14 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber |
| 15 | Nelson Piquet Jr | Renault |
| 16 | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso -Ferrari |
| 17 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India - Mercedes |
| 18 | Mark Webber | Red Bull - Renault |
| 19 | Adrian Sutil | Force India - Mercedes |
| 20 | Sebastien Bourdias | Toro Rosso - Ferrari |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
