Michael Schumacher has been officially reprimanded following an incident involving Rubens Barrichello during today's qualifying session.

The incident, which happened during Q2, saw Schumacher impede his former Ferrari teammate, who immediately called on his team to protest to the FIA.

Both drivers made it through to Q3, ultimately qualifying ninth and tenth, and Schumacher wasted no time in apologising to the Brazilian. Nonetheless, the Williams driver was clearly unhappy.

"I'm a little bit sad because it's only luck that I passed on to Q3 because he really slowed me down," he told the BBC at the end of the session. "I am a down-to-earth guy, a very cool guy, which means I have a lot of respect even for the slowest cars and to the quickest ones. So we all make mistakes and we are allowed to make a mistake and to apologise.

"He just came to apologise, in a way that the team didn't tell him (I was there)," he continued, "but I was on a fast lap and you know, you have mirrors, and you have everything, and you cannot count on everything from the team.

"I don't want it to become very personal, we had problems in the past, we still have problems in some situations like in Hungary," he added, referring to a controversial move in Hungary in which the German forced the Williams driver towards the pit wall as they battled for position. The Mercedes driver was subsequently handed a ten-place grid penalty for the following race.

"The team keep me informed who is pushing, who is on flying laps," said Schumacher of today's incident, "he was behind me, but I hadn't been informed, so I assumed he was on a preparing lap just as I was. Sorry if I held him up, it wasn't meant to be."

The stewards, who include 1980 world champion Alan Jones, having viewed video and telemetry evidence, subsequently ruled that "between turns 10 and 14 during Q2, Schumacher had indeed impeded Barrichello", a breach of Article 16.1 of the 2010 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.

Having officially reprimanded the German, the stewards were keen to point out that "irrespective of the team's opinion that car 9 (Barrichello) was not on a "fast lap", it is ultimately the driver's responsibility to be conscious of closing cars via the use of mirrors and blue flags/lights."

Ironically, Schumacher's Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, was also investigated for blocking Fernando Alonso during this morning's practice session.

The German was accused of impeding the Spaniard in Turns 14 and 15 causing the Ferrari driver to brake heavily. However, they noted that Rosberg attempted to avoid impeding the Spaniard and therefore decided not to impose a penalty.

To check out our Yeongam qualifying gallery, click here