Photo: Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service
Johnny Cecotto has been excluded from the results of qualifying for the opening round of the GP2 Series in Malaysia after stewards deemed his? manoeuvre that put Sam Bird on the grass to be “unacceptable”.
In the closing minutes of qualifying in Sepang, Cecotto came up behind the car of Bird at turn five. Bird was seen to pull over away from the racing line but Cecotto then drove towards his rival, forcing him off onto the grass.
Bird, who had set the fifth fastest time on his first day in a GP2 car for more than a year, was found to have impeded Cecotto and given a three-place grid penalty, dropping him to eighth.
A statement from the championship added that “Cecotto has been excluded from the results of Qualifying as his reaction to being impeded by another driver were deemed unacceptable.”
Arden driver Cecotto had originally qualified in 14th position for Saturday’s feature race, but will now have to start from the back. His teammate Mitch Evans will start fifth for his GP2 debut.
Revised feature race grid
| Pos | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Gap |
| 1 | Stefano Coletti | Rapax | 8 | 1:44.280 | |
| 2 | James Calado | ART Grand Prix | 8 | 1:44.284 | 0.004 |
| 3 | Felipe Nasr | Carlin | 11 | 1:44.288 | 0.008 |
| 4 | Fabio Leimer | Racing Engineering | 8 | 1:44.463 | 0.183 |
| 5 | Mitch Evans | Arden International | 12 | 1:44.618 | 0.338 |
| 6 | Rio Haryanto | Barwa Addax Team | 10 | 1:44.681 | 0.401 |
| 7 | Rene Binder | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 9 | 1:44.687 | 0.407 |
| 8* | Sam Bird | RUSSIAN TIME | 9 | 1:44.598 | 0.318 |
| 9 | Simon Trummer | Rapax | 14 | 1:44.692 | 0.412 |
| 10 | Tom Dillmann | RUSSIAN TIME | 11 | 1:44.731 | 0.451 |
| 11 | Julian Leal | Racing Engineering | 11 | 1:44.732 | 0.452 |
| 12 | Sergio Canamasas | Caterham Racing | 12 | 1:44.761 | 0.481 |
| 13 | Marcus Ericsson | DAMS | 10 | 1:44.766 | 0.486 |
| 14 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | MP Motorsport | 14 | 1:45.191 | 0.911 |
| 15 | St?phane Richelmi | DAMS | 11 | 1:45.262 | 0.982 |
| 16 | Conor Daly | Hilmer Motorsport | 12 | 1:45.289 | 1.009 |
| 17 | Nathana?l Berthon | Trident Racing | 11 | 1:45.378 | 1.098 |
| 18 | Kevin Ceccon | Trident Racing | 12 | 1:45.491 | 1.211 |
| 19 | Ma Qing Hua | Caterham Racing | 10 | 1:45.497 | 1.217 |
| 20 | Daniel De Jong | MP Motorsport | 13 | 1:45.522 | 1.242 |
| 21 | Daniel Abt | ART Grand Prix | 9 | 1:45.593 | 1.313 |
| 22 | Jolyon Palmer | Carlin | 10 | 1:45.662 | 1.382 |
| 23 | Jake Rosenzweig | Barwa Addax Team | 11 | 1:45.708 | 1.428 |
| 24 | Pal Varhaug | Hilmer Motorsport | 12 | 1:45.830 | 1.550 |
| 25 | Kevin Giovesi | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 12 | 1:45.985 | 1.705 |
| 26* | Johnny Cecotto | Arden International | 10 | 1:44.788 | 0.508 |
* Three-place grid penalty
** Excluded from qualifying