Sebastian Vettel has been handed a three-place grid penalty for the next Formula 1 grand prix in Japan following his first-corner collision with Nico Rosberg in Malaysia.
The stewards, led by BRDC president Derek Warwick at Sepang, deemed Ferrari driver Vettel to have made "a small error" that ultimately cost championship leader Rosberg "multiple positions".
The stewards' verdict read: "Having thoroughly reviewed the video, and having spoken to the driver concerned, the stewards determined that although the cars involved in the incident were all moving at relatively similar speeds, the driver of car five [Vettel] made a small error entering to the inside of Turn 1 that led to the contact with the driver of car 6 [Rosberg].
"As a consequence, car six was caused to spin from second place and lose multiple positions, which the stewards determined was predominantly the fault of the driver of car five, and therefore ordered the penalty for causing a collision."
Vettel has also been handed two superlicence penalty points and now has four overall for the past 12-month period.
Rosberg claimed he was "torpedoed by a four-time world champion" in the incident, which happened when Vettel dived up the inside of Red Bull's Max Verstappen.
Vettel collided with the right-rear of Rosberg's Mercedes, but with the Ferrari driver coming off far worse as the accident broke the front-left suspension and forced him to retire.
Rosberg was fortunate to emerge from the clash with no damage to his car, and although the spin sent him to the back of the field, he recovered to claim third behind a Red Bull one-two spearheaded by Daniel Ricciardo.
Read the full story at Formula 1 news - Autosport
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