Sutil penalised for blocking Webber

Force India driver Adrian Sutil has been demoted three places on the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix after race stewards decided he blocked Red Bull’s Mark Webber during qualifying on Saturday.

Webber was in the latter stages of a flying lap near end of Q1 when he came upon Sutil, who was travelling slower. The Australian, who subsequently failed to make it through to Q2, felt that the German had severely hindered his progress.

Sutil had been set to start the race from 16th, but in light of the penalty he will now drop to P19. Webber, meanwhile, will move one place up to 18th.