Blow for Button as drivers penalised

• Rubens Barrichello also moved five places back on grid• Button will now start 12th with Barrichello in 10thBrawn GP drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello have been penalised five grid places for tomorrow's Japanese grand prix for failing to reduce their speed on seeing the yellow flag on the exit of turn 14 during qualifying at Suzuka, the FIA has confirmed.Button qualified in seventh position originally, with Barrichello two places ahead in fifth, but following the decision they will start from 10th and 12th respectively.The decision is a huge blow for Button who could slinch the world drivers' championship if he finishes five points ahead of Barrichello in Japan. That now looks an extremely unlikely proposition, and the Brazilian will be hopeful that he can fiunish among the points and close the gap on his Brawn team-mate.While conceding he had contravened the regulations, Button felt that driving around the debris was all he could do under the circumstances. "We got a five-place penalty for not slowing down sufficiently after the yellow flag but from my point of view, I did the right thing," he said."I took avoiding action and when I saw the yellow flag, it was just before the front wing so I moved to one side. I thought it was unsafe to lift off because there could have been a car behind because you don't want to be moving across the circuit at high speed and lifting and as soon as I passed the front wing, I saw the green flag down the circuit."That was it. The regulations say you have to slow down enough and you've got to lift off the throttle, which I didn't do so I got penalised. I respect their decision but for me, it was the best thing to do, I had one second to make a decision."Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel starts the race in pole, with Toyoto's Jarno Trulli in second and Lewis Hamilton third for McLaren.Grid positions for Japanese grand prix:1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1min 32.160secs,2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:32.220,3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1:32.395,4 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:32.466,5 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:32.945,6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:32.980,7 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren no time,8 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso no time,9 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:31.482,10 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Brawn GP 1:32.660,11 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:31.638,12 Jenson Button (Gbr) Brawn GP 1:32.962,13 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:32.341,14 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota no time,15 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso no time,16 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Ferrari 1:31.704,17 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:31.718,18 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Renault 1:32.073,19 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Force India 1:32.087DNS: 20 Mark Webber (Aus) Red BullJenson ButtonBrawnFormula OneMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

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