SEPTEMBER 1, 2012

Three place penalty for Maldonado

Pastor Maldonado has been penalised three places on the Belgian GP grid for impeding Nico Hulkenberg after qualifying his Williams third.

The Venezuelan, who won so impressively in Barcelona, has been involved in a number of controversial incidents since, the latest occurring in Q1 at Spa.

Race stewards said: "The driver of car 18 (Maldonado) was warned by his team not to 'hold up' car 12 (Hulkenberg), which was behind him, yet he clearly did impede car 12. However, as car 12 continued into Q2, a more severe penalty was not considered appropriate."

Maldonado's demotion means that Kimi Raikkonen will start the race third, Sergio Perez fourth, and Fernando Alonso fifth.

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