Jean-Eric Vergne has been demoted three places on the grid following a stewards decision that he blocked Bruno Senna during Q1.
The Toro Rosso driver will only actually drop to 19th from 17th, two places, because of Michael Schumacher’s earlier penalty for hitting Vergne in Singapore.
According to 22-year-old he tried his best to avoid blocking the Williams, but was caught out at the chicane.
“The incident with Senna, I was catching Glock on my flying lap and I had to slow because of that,” explained the Frenchman. “I saw Bruno was coming very quickly and unfortunately he caught me at the chicane where there is not much room.
“I knew I had to let him past and moved as much to the outside as I could, even though I knew I would not be in the best position to come out of the corner. After that, he slowed a lot and I had to pass him again on the straight, otherwise I would not have set a proper time.”
Sebastian Vettel remains under investigation for blocking Fernando Alonso.
