Coulthard, Schumacher penalised

Date published : 07 Aug 2011 - 15:30:56

David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher have both been given suspended grid penalties after colliding during the Nurburgring DTM race. HWA Mercedes driver Schumacher pushed Coulthard off the track at Turn 1 on the second lap, and the pair then collided at the following corner as Coulthard attempted to retake the position. The second contact forced Schumacher into a spin and retirement. After reviewing video evidence, race stewards decided that both drivers had been at fault and contravened article 30 of the DTM Sporting Code and gave each driver a three-place grid penalty, suspended for one race. Coulthard said: "It's the first time I can ever remember being given a penalty by stewards in more than 20 years of racing. "I was so far off the line at the exit of Turn 1 - I hadn't been that far off all weekend ? so I had no idea where the grip was. It's just unfortunate that this happened, because I damaged my car and the good pace we had this weekend was for nothing." Schumacher added: "I braked a bit too late perhaps and made contact with him. It was a fair fight; we both wanted to maintain position. As fellow Mercedes drivers, we did everything we could, though, and gave no quarter, but it's no big deal, in a close-run race, these things happen."