FERNANDO ALONSO DEMOTED TO 6TH, McLAREN WILL SCORE NO CONSTRUCTORS POINTS:
Fernando Alonso has been demoted to sixth on the Hungarian Grand Prix grid after stewards deemed he "unnecessarily impeded" McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Saturday's qualifying.
Alonso and the team's actions forced Hamilton to wait in the McLaren pit as the pair stacked up prior to their final qualifying runs.
And while the world champion made it back on track in time to snatch pole position, Hamilton missed the cut despite dominating the session until that point.
The 22-year-old was forced to settle for second, but has now been promoted to the front of the grid.
McLaren has also been informed that it will not be eligible to score constructors' championship points in Sunday's race with either car.
Team principal Ron Dennis told reporters after qualifying that the mix-up began because Hamilton didn't follow instructions to allow Alonso past during the fuel-burning phase of Q3, thus throwing the McLarens out of sequence.
Alonso also staunchly defended his actions, arguing that he was simply following the instructions of his engineers who were trying to find him a gap in traffic.
But after reviewing McLaren's radio transmissions and interviewing Dennis, team manager Dave Ryan and both drivers, the stewards said they did not accept either the team's or Alonso's explanations.
"The explanation given by Alonso as to why...he remained in his pit stop position for a further 10 seconds is not accepted," read an official statement released eight and a half hours after qualifying ended.
"The stewards find that he unnecessarily impeded another driver, Hamilton, and as a result he will be penalised by a loss of five grid positions.
"The explanation given by the team as to why they kept Alonso stationary for 20 seconds after completion of his tyre change and therefore delayed Hamilton's own pit stop is not accepted.
"The actions of the team in the final minutes of qualifying are considered prejudicial to the interests of the competition and to the interests of motor sport generally.
"The penalty to be applied is that such points (if any) in the 2007 Formula1 constructors' championship as accrue to the team as a result of their participation in the 2007 Hungarian Grand Prix wilt be withdrawn."
Alonso's grid relegation is not appealable but McLaren signalled on Saturday night that it will challenge the forfeiture of constructors' points.
It is the second year running that Alonso has lost places on the Hungarian GP grid at the hands of the stewards.
Last year, while driving for Renault, he started 15th after being penalised for brake-testing another car and overtaking under a yellow flag.
SOURCE: ITV-F1
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