German also given three-penalty points on his super licence
Saturday 6 June 2015 23:01, UK
Sebastian Vettel has been handed a five-place grid demotion by the Canadian GP stewards after passing a Manor car under a red flag during Practice Three in Montreal.
The former world champion was called to appear in front of the stewards after footage showed the Ferrari driver overtaking the Manor-Marussia car of Roberto Merhi when the track was in ‘lock-down’ mode after the crash of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr.
In addition to his grid penalty, Vettel has had three points added to his super licence, the first in the last 12 months.
On what proved to be a dismal day for the Scuderia driver, Vettel was later eliminated after just the first round of qualifying, along with backmarker Merhi, after his Ferrari car developed a software glitch.
As a result of his demotion, Vettel will start Sunday's race from 18th the grid, ahead of Max Verstappen and Jenson Button.
