The Toyotas of Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock have been stripped of their qualifying positions and will start the Australian GP from the back of the grid after being found guilty of a technical infringement.
Around three hours after Glock and Trulli finished qualifying in sixth and eighth positions respectively, the stewards deemed both cars to have broken the rules and excluded their times. The news is of the particular benefit to the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen who will now start the race from sixth and seventh.
The Toyotas were excluded from qualifying by race stewards following a report given to them by technical delegate Jo Bauer. Bauer noted the upper rear wing element of their cars was showing extreme flexibility in contravention of the technical regulations.
The rules specifically stipulate cars are not allowed flexible body parts as they offer a distinct advantage, and as such are illegal.
The stewards - Radovan Novak, Olafur Gudmundsson and Steve Chopping - ultimately concurred with Bauer after an inspection of the cars and following a hearing with Toyota representatives.
"The Stewards have received a report from the Technical Delegate that the upper rear wing elements of cars No. 9 and 10 are showing extreme flexibility in contravention of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations," a FIA statement read.
"The Stewards concur with the opinion of the Technical Delegate and find the cars contravene the requirements of Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations.
"It is the Stewards decision that cars number 9 and 10 be excluded from the Qualifying Session Official Classification."
