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Ferrari have been fined £13,500 after Fernando Alonso almost crashed into Nico Rosberg in the pit lane during qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix.
The incident took place early in the final 10-minute qualifying session.
Alonso pulled out of the Ferrari garage and cut in front of Rosberg, forcing the German to veer left and brake hard.
The four race stewards ruled that the Spaniard's manoeuvre was an unsafe release from the pits, an offence which carries a fine under Formula 1 rules.
Rosberg, Michael Schumacher's team-mate at Mercedes, reacted angrily to the incident, barking "Alonso should get a penalty for that" over the team radio.
After, learning of Alonso's punishment, he added: "It was a dangerous situation. It was correct they got a fine and they really need to do better next time."
Earlier, Alonso had suggested his actions should be considered in the same light as a clash during the Chinese Grand Prix three weeks ago.
On that occasion, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel touched wheels in the pit lane, but only received reprimands.
"First of all I didn't see Nico, unfortunately," said Alonso.
"The angle is not the perfect one to see anybody coming from the pits, so you are relying on your mechanic.
"Then, if there is a penalty, we need to reconsider some of the grands prix we have had so far in terms of penalties in the pit lane.
"Third, if there is a penalty, it's a safety thing in the pit lane, which is normally a fine for the team.
"Hopefully we don't have any of these cases because, as I said, we need to reconsider some of the other races.
"Hopefully they take into consideration there was no accident, no touch, no performance gain from the move."
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Post time 9-5-2010 05:10 PM
