Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have both been handed five-place grid penalties for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.
Stewards act after Heidfeld and Alonso complain they were held up
McLaren-Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have both been handed five-place grid penalties for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix after stewards decided they impeded rivals during qualifying.
The decision means that Kovalainen moves from third place to eighth on the Sepang grid, with world championship leader Hamilton demoted from fourth place to ninth.
Stewards summoned the pair on Saturday after complaints from both BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld and Renault's Fernando Alonso.
Hamilton was subsequently found guilty of impeding Heidfeld by 'travelling at a very slow speed on the racing line'.
Kovalainen was also charged with committing the same offence against both Heidfeld and Alonso.
A McLaren spokesman confirmed the penalty, which came after the stewards had deliberated for several hours, and added that the team would not appeal the decision.
Heidfeld therefore moves up from seventh to fifth on the grid, with Alonso moving up from ninth to seventh.
Parked
Both said they were held up at the end of the third and final session - Heidfeld and Alonso still on quick laps while the others were slowing down to save fuel.
"In Q3 most of the cars were already very, very slow when I was on my flying lap, just like (they were) parked on the circuit," Heidfeld told
ITV after qualifying.
"The biggest fault was both of the McLarens in front of turn four, being in the middle of the racing line and I could not be on the line I wanted, especially for braking.
"I lost some time there and if you look at the times, they were very, very close. I think I lost two tenths which would be third place," added the German, who finished second behind Hamilton in Melbourne.
Double world champion Alonso, who drove for McLaren last year before falling out with both management and Hamilton and then returning to Renault, spoke to stewards before Hamilton and Kovalainen were summoned.
"I could have done better in Q3 this afternoon as I was with Heidfeld on a fast lap while the others were going slowly, and that affected me a bit, which is a shame," Alonso said.
Apology
Hamilton felt he was not at fault although he did apologise to Heidfeld.
"I was pretty much out of the way," he said upon emerging from the meeting.
"If I held him up then I apologise for that."
McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh added that there had been no deliberate intent to hold anyone up.
"Neither of our drivers did it intentionally. They did all they could to squeeze over to allow Nick and Fernando to do their quick laps," he said.
"We informed our drivers that there were people trying to do their flying laps. There was congestion at one part of the circuit with six cars trying to go into one corner.
"I don't think we impaired Nick but I can understand visually if you have got all of those cars and you are trying to do a quick lap it is not something you are going to be comfortable or happy with."
