03 April,2009 05:45 PM IST | | AFP
Veteran Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello has been handed a five-place grid penalty at the Malaysian Grand Prix after needing a gearbox change.
The Brawn GP star, who finished second in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix last weekend, was sixth quickest in the second free practice here and did not appear to have any problems.
But the sport's governing body said his team had decided a gearbox change was needed ahead of tomorrow's qualifying session.
As a result, he gets penalised because gearboxes must last for four Grand Prix weekends.
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Barrichello is not the only driver starting down the grid.
Germany's Sebastian Vettel has a 10-place penalty for crashing his Red Bull into Polish driver Robert Kubica's BMW Sauber in the final laps in Australia.
