Ralf Schumacher was blamed and penalized for a three-car crash at the start of the German Grand Prix that took himself and two other top drivers out of Sunday's race.
After reviewing tape of the race, stewards put the blame on Schumacher and ruled that he will be dropped 10 places in the starting grid from the position he qualifies for in his next Formula One race.
The Williams team said it would appeal against the ruling. A final decision is expected before the next race, the Hungarian GP in three weeks.
Schumacher said he would accept the penalty if the appeal is rejected but still thought the accident was "an unlucky but normal racing incident."
The accident happened before the first corner.
Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari was squeezed in by Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren-Mercedes on the outside and Schumacher's BMW-Williams on the inside.
Barrichello did not get off to a fast start and Raikkonen was trying to pass him. Although it initially looked like Raikkonen had clipped Barrichello's front left wheel, stewards ruled that Schumacher had made first contact, bumping Barrichello and forcing his car into Raikkonen. Raikkonen spun out of control and crashed heavily into a tire wall, just missing the concrete section. His front wheels flew off as the front of the car broke apart. He was sore but not seriously hurt. The cars of both Schumacher and Barrichello were too damaged to continue. The accident involved the winner of the previous race in Britain (Barrichello), the winner of two of the last three races (Schumacher) and the No. 2 in the season standings (Raikkonen).
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was