Formula One news

5-place gearbox penalty for Kovalainen

Heikki Kovalainen will drop back five places on the grid after changing a gearbox following qualifying in Abu Dhabi. The punishment makes for difficult reading for the Finn, especially as team-mate Lewis Hamilton was able to grab pole position at Yas Marina.

After beating Hamilton to lead a McLaren 1-2 in second practice on Friday, Kovalainen's car came to an abrupt halt in the second phase of the qualifying sesssion; as the reason was a gearbox failure and Kovalainen therefore forced to take a regulatory penalty, the Finn was left feeling highly let down.

"What a disappointing outcome to my qualifying," he said. "I got stuck in second gear during Q2 and that was it. I had already had minor problems with the gearbox yesterday, when it jumped out of gear, so it's frustrating when you have a car you can easily take into Q3."

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