Marcus Ericsson will start the Monaco Grand Prix from the pitlane after the stewards found him guilty of “reckless driving” when he collided with Felipe Massa.
The Swedish driver was attempting to pass at Mirabeau, but locked-up and went into the side of Massa, forcing them both into the barrier.
Ericsson qualified 22nd and last, but will start from the pits and was also handed two penalty points by the stewards – his first of the season.
Explaining what happened, the Caterham driver said: “I had a traction problem in Q1, even though the track temps had gone up from FP3 – I didn’t have enough grip to really push and with quite a few cars slowing down in the last sector I just couldn’t put together a clean lap.
“On my final push lap I was behind Massa going into turn five and he moved offline a bit which meant I had to change my braking point. I locked up and went into the barrier with him which was my mistake.”
Massa, who starts 16th after failing to take part in Q2, added: “I did everything I could in the first session but at the end Ericsson hit me and that ruined my qualifying.”
