16/03/2008
NEWS STORY
Kazuki Nakajima has been handed a ten-place grid penalty for next weekend's Malaysian GP following his clash with Robert Kubica in today's Australian event.
Speaking at the end of the race, Kubica, who looked set for a points finish before the incident on the 47th lap, said: "I still had a chance to score some points, but then at the end of the third safety car period Nakajima crashed into the rear of my car and I had to stop."
While the Pole was eliminated from the race following the clash, Nakajima was able to continue, bringing his Williams home seventh, but eventually gaining another point following Barrichello's disqualification. The clash with Kubica, which necessitated the fitting of a new nosecone was the second incident of the day, earlier in the race the Japanese driver needed a new nose following an incident on the opening lap.
"It was really tough out there today physically, but on top of that there was so much going on," said Nakajima. "At the start, a car spun in front of me, turned side on and damaged my nose. Then with the various safety car periods, the team did a great job to swap my strategy to a one stop that put me in the points. Towards the end of the race, I had another incident when all the cars backed up into each other and I damaged my nose again."
After the race, the Race Stewards met having received a report from the Race Director. They concluded that Nakajima caused a collision, thereby breaching Article 16.1 of the 2008 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations. Consequently, it was decided that the Williams driver will drop 10 grid positions at the next event (Malaysia).