Ralf punished over F1 crash
2003-08-03 22:45
Hockenheim - Ralf Schumacher has been punished for his part in the opening lap crash in the German Grand Prix and will lose ten grid positions in the next race in Hungary.
Race stewards deemed that the Williams driver had caused an avoidable accident at the start of the race, which put McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen and Rubens Barrichello out of the race as well as the German himself.
A statement from the FIA said that Schumacher had "admitted to paying no attention to the position of other cars" and he will be put back ten places on the grid in Hungary in three weeks' time.
The FIA said: "Having heard the explanation of each driver and seen different camera views, the stewards concluded that Ralf Schumacher began to move to his left to obtain a better racing line for the first corner.
Schumacher's team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya led the race from start to finish to close to within six points of championship leader Michael Schumacher, of Ferrari.
- AFP