Dutchman Albers punished but gains a place

SHANGHAI, Oct 1 (Reuters) Dutchman Christijan Albers gained a place in the Chinese Grand Prix results today despite being reprimanded by stewards and docked 25 seconds for ignoring warning flags.

The Spyker F1 driver moved up from 16th to 15th after Super Aguri's Takuma Sato was excluded for committing the same offence, impeding a driver trying to lap him, for the second time this season.

Sato had finished 14th.

BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld complained after the race that the Japanese backmarker had blocked him for almost a lap despite the waved blue flags. The German was running in fourth place at the time.

Stewards agreed Sato had breached the regulations.

Albers's time penalty did not affect his placing as he finished a lap ahead of the next driver, Super Aguri's Sakon Yamamoto.

REUTERS AB RK1825