Takuma Sato has denied any wrongdoing after stewards excluded him from the Chinese grand prix.
In the wake of last lap carnage in Shanghai, the Super Aguri pilot was found guilty of ignoring blue flags and blocking quicker drivers and disqualified following an earlier reprimand in 2006.
But Japan’s Sato, 29, on Tuesday protested his innocence by insisting that he promptly let Nick Heidfeld’s BMW-Sauber pass.
”But then it started raining again,” he said, ”and surprisingly I was catching him. He made a mistake at turn one on the last lap and ran wide so I overtook him.”
Sato says that no blue flags were then waved, before the melee involving Heidfeld, Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button and Pedro de la Rosa occurred at the hairpin.
Sato says: ”I didn’t ignore the blue flag. Why should I?
”I thought I did the right thing. There were no blue flags and it’s a big shame to have such a good result taken away from us when I don’t think I was to blame.”
GMMF1
DailyF1News.com
