Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli have been stripped of their grid positions for the Australian Grand Prix for a flexible wing infringement.

Glock had qualified sixth on the grid, with Jarno Trulli two places further behind, for their Toyota team at Albert Park.

However, following post-qualifying technical inspections by the FIA, it was found that the team's rear wing elements were in breach of the rules.

A statement issued by the FIA said: "The Stewards have received a report from the Technical Delegate that the upper rear wing elements of cars No. 9 and 10 are showing extreme flexibility in contravention of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations.

"The Stewards have heard the explanation from a representative of Panasonic Toyota Racing and have examined the cars in question.

"The Stewards concur with the opinion of the Technical Delegate and find the cars contravene the requirements of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations.

"It is the Stewards decision that cars number 9 and 10 be excluded from the Qualifying Session Official Classification."

Article 3.15 of the technical regulations states that wings must not have 'any degree of freedom' and 'remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car.'

The results mean that Trulli and Glock will start the race from the back of the grid.

Toyota said it will not appeal the decision.

Отправляются 19-м и 20-м вслед за Льюисом.. Уже отыграны две позици..Ура?

Интересно, успеет обогнать 17ть машин до первой дозаправки, с таким количеством топлива:)?

Lewis Hamilton says he is unconcerned about the reliability of his new McLaren-Mercedes MP4-24 despite being forced to sit out half of qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.

As things stand, the world champion will start 18th on the grid (pending a protest from Williams on the legality of the Red Bull and Ferrari cars) having had to take a five-place penalty for a gearbox change.

"Fourth gear broke, so we couldn't carry on," said Hamilton. "We'll have to change the gearbox, so I'll lose five places and will start from the back of the grid.

"We actually haven't had many problems with reliability, as this was the first one of the weekend! I think we have a good reliability so that shouldn't be a problem."

Hamilton admitted that he didn't have a particular strategy for the race, though the official weight of his car, released by the FIA (see separate story), suggested that he will start the race lighter than many of his rivals.

"I don't have a game plan," he said. "I'll just go for it as it can't get any worse than being last.

"We'll do the best we can and we are a bit quicker than some that are ahead of us, so we'll try to make up as many places as possible."

Asked if he would need to control himself at the beginning of the race, given Melbourne's notoriety for first lap incidents, Hamilton responded: "No, but the race will be a test to that!

"I think I've learned a lot from last year in Fuji, but we'll have more sensible than the others to make sure I finish the race," he added. "Still, we'll have a bit of fun starting from the back of the grid."

Надеюсь, для большей веселухи и порезвиться ему еще четверых за спину подкинут. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Надеюсь, для большей веселухи и порезвиться ему еще четверых за спину подкинут. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Williams has withdrawn its protest against the Ferrari and Red Bull Racing teams over a possible technical infringement.

Despite hours of deliberation by the Australian Grand Prix race stewards following Williams' complaints, and media and other officials being forced to remain at work in the paddock until the matter was resolved, the Grove-based outfit chose to call a halt to its complaints shortly before midnight.

Although the team has declined to comment on the situation, it is understood the protest related to the area of the car surrounding the front edge of the sidepods.

The Williams complaint came on the back of Ferrari and Red Bull Racing being two of the teams who protested against its own diffuser design earlier in the weekend.

Prior to the Williams protest being lodged, technical director Sam Michael said that he had no qualms with protests being lodged.

"Let's be 100 percent clear, if someone thinks our car is not legal, we have no problem with them going the stewards at any time throughout the race weekend or the championship and saying we think x on that car is illegal," he explained.

"We sit in front of the stewards and say this is our case, this is theirs and they either declare for us or against us. We fully support that process because they are effectively the policeman and you've got to have that. You can't ever not have that otherwise people can run riot.

"So we don't have any problem with what people have done this weekend. Those three teams now that they've appealed those decisions feel that they have a very strong pace otherwise they wouldn't have done that, because they've been through two processes already and they are continuing with that with the Court of Appeal. I wouldn't say that it frustrates us. We are accepting of that process and we will go through with it."

The decision to withdraw the appeal means that the results of qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix have now been made official - with the only changes from the qualifying times being the exclusion of the two Toyota cars for flexi wings.

Шоу продолжается. Хочу чтобы от нас и особенно от Хэмильтона волна интееса отхлынула. На холодную трезвую голову работать и вылезать из Ж, это наша корпоративная стратегия успеха.