Ralf penalised for his part in accident

The penalty will see him lose ten grid positions at the next Grand Prix in Hungary. The start of the race would see Ralf move to the left while Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Raikkonen were travelling in close proximity to the WilliamsF1. It was viewed that Ralf's move left Barrichello with no room, resulting in the Ferrari hitting Raikkonen's McLaren.

In a statement released by the FIA it stated: "The stewards of the meeting received a report from the race director which stated that the driver of car no. 4 (R. Schumacher) caused an avoidable collision, contrary to article 53 of the 2003 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and the drivers of car numbers 2, 4 and 6 (Rubens Barrichello, R. Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen) and respective team managers were summoned.

"Having heard the explanation of each driver and having seen the different camera views of the incident, the stewards conclude that R. Schumacher began to move to his left to obtain a better racing line for the corner. R. Schumacher admitted to paying no attention to the position of the other cars during this manoeuvre.

"The stewards note that it is absolutely clear that R. Schumacher's car made contact with car number 2 (Barrichello), which in turn made contact with car number 6 (Raikkonen). Both drivers of cars number 2 and 6 were caught in a set of circumstances over which they had no control.

The stewards of the meeting impose on the driver of car number 4 (R. Schumacher) a drop of 10 grid positions at the driver's next race, in accordance with article 55(c) of the 2003 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations. The competitor is reminded of its right to appeal."

The WilliamsF1 team announced that they would appeal this peanlty.