Sato thrown out as Honda rubbish 'dubious' claim.

Takuma Sato has been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix for his part in the incident that denied Nick Heidfeld a fourth place finish on the final lap, although Honda boss Nick Fry has rejected suggestions made by BMW that they had some part in the confusion.

Sato was lambasted heavily by Heidfeld for not moving out of his way on the final lap of the race, with the Japanese driver remaining directly in front of him on an increasingly slippery circuit up until the hairpin at the end of the back straight.

01.10.2006 Shanghai, China, Takuma Sato (JPN), Super Aguri F1 leads Tiago Monteiro (POR), Spyker MF1
01.10.2006 Shanghai, China, Takuma Sato (JPN), Super Aguri F1 leads Tiago…
© Mike Weston

Takuma Sato has been disqualified from the Chinese Grand Prix for his part in the incident that denied Nick Heidfeld a fourth place finish on the final lap, although Honda boss Nick Fry has rejected suggestions made by BMW that they had some part in the confusion.

Sato was lambasted heavily by Heidfeld for not moving out of his way on the final lap of the race, with the Japanese driver remaining directly in front of him on an increasingly slippery circuit up until the hairpin at the end of the back straight.

Braking directly in front of Heidfeld, the German was passed by both Jenson Button and Pedro de la Rosa, before being punted off by Rubens Barrichello, who was attempting to avoid the melee unfolding in front of him. Sato was thus disqualified for ignoring blue flags.

Heidfeld eventually crossed the line in seventh place having looked set for fourth, branding the race as the 'worst in his career' in a post-race statement. However, the team's suggestion that he was the 'victim of dubious manoeuvres' with regards to Sato aiding the Honda drivers due to his links with the manufacturer through Super Aguri were angrily denied by Fry.

"It's a ludicrous suggestion, to think we had time to do and to think that is complete rubbish," he told Reuters. "If it did help Jenson, it didn't help Rubens...in my view it was clearly a racing incident."

Sato was not the only driver to feel the wrath of the stewards for his part in blocking Heidfeld in the laps leading up to the penultimate corner chaos, the German having already slid off as he attempted to pass the Spyker, the Dutchman receiving an equally stern telling off at the end of the race.

However, he was given a 25 second penalty instead of disqualification as Sato had already been reprimanded for a similar blocking offence earlier in the season.

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