Five drivers given grid penalties
Five Formula 1 drivers were given penalties for not lifting off during a yellow-flag period in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Championship leader Jenson Button, team-mate Rubens Barrichello, Renault driver Fernando Alonso, Force India's Adrian Sutil and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi were given five-place grid penalties after the session.
The race stewards deemed the first four drivers had not lifted off sufficiently at the end of Q2, when Buemi had crashed, leaving debris on track.
Brawn team boss Ross Brawn said his drivers, who had not set a time until then, had not lifted at all.
"No, they swerved to avoid the problem. But they didn't lift off, no," said Brawn.
Swiss driver Buemi was also reprimanded by the stewards for driving back to the pits with a damaged car and impeding other drivers.
Button had qualified in seventh, Barrichello in fifth, Alonso in 12th, Sutil in fourth and Buemi in 10th.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Note |
| 1 | Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | |
| 2 | Trulli | Toyota | |
| 3 | Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | |
| 4 | Heidfeld | BMW-Sauber | |
| 5 | Raikkonen | Ferrari | |
| 6 | Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | |
| 7 | Kubica | BMW-Sauber | |
| 8 | Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | * |
| 9 | Barrichello | Brawn-Mercedes | * |
| 10 | Alguersuari | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | |
| 11 | Button | Brawn-Mercedes | * |
| 12 | Fisichella | Ferrari | |
| 13 | Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | ** |
| 14 | Buemi | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | * |
| 15 | Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | |
| 16 | Grosjean | Renault | |
| 17 | Alonso | Renault | * |
| 18 | Liuzzi | Force India-Mercedes | |
| 19 | Glock | Toyota | *** |
| 20 | Webber | Red Bull-Renault | *** |
* Five-place grid penalty
** Five-place grid penalty for changing gearbox
*** Will use new chassis so will start from the pitlane
資料來源
Comment: 慘！五位車手都遭罰，排位都將往後掉！Sutil P4變成P8、老巴P5變成P9、Button P7變成P11、Buemi P10變成P14、Alonso P12變成P17（退很多位）、Glock和Webber pitlane起跑（更換新的車架底盤）、Kovalainen P9變成P13（因為撞車導致須換變速箱）。
