Both Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen have each been penalised for blocking Nick Heidfeld and Fernando Alonso during qualifying at Sepang and moved back five places on the grid.

McLaren gracefully accepted their punishment and released the following statement: “We accept the stewards’ decision but would like to add that neither Lewis nor Heikki impaired any of their competitors deliberately.”

The final grid positions are below for tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix

1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m 35.748s
2. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m 36.230s
3. Jarno Trulli Toyota 1m 36.711s
4. Robert Kubica BMW 1m 36.727s
5. Nick Heidfeld BMW 1m 36.753s
6. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1m3 7.009s
7. Fernando Alonso Renault 1m 38.450s
8. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 1m 36.613s *
9. Lewis Hamilton McLaren 1m 36.709s *
10. Timo Glock Toyota 1m 9.656s
11. Jenson Button Honda 1m 35.208s
12. David Coulthard Red Bull Racing 1m 35.408
13. Nelson Piquet Jr Renault 1m 35.562s
14. Rubens Barrichello Honda 1m 35.622s
15. Sebastian Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m 35.648s
16. Nico Rosberg Williams 1m35.670s
17. Giancarlo Fisichella Force India 1m 36.240s
18. Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m 36.677s
19. Takuma Sato Super Aguri 1m 37.087s
20. Adrian Sutil Force India 1m 37.101s
21. Anthony Davidson Super Aguri 1m 37.481s
22. Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m 36.388s **

* 5 place penalty given
** 10 place penalty given from last race

Merry Christmas to all our regular readers here at our little blog, it has been a good year for us, being linked by BBC America, among other noteworthy websites.

Most importantly it has been a great year for Lewis Hamilton, regardless of any negative press. I’d be slightly annoyed about him moving to Switzerland were it not for the fact that I’d love to move abroad, for better weather, less banning of everything, and governments more honest about what thieving b’stards they are!

Lewis has achieved a remarkable first season in F1 and make no mistake by thinking otherwise. OK it would have been fantastic if he had won the season outright, but in reality, just like when all our kids get fantastic GCSE results, the critics would be out crying F1 is now all about the car, or computer simulation training would be likened to steroids. You know what the critics are like.

Hamilton coming second by a hair’s breadth shows how competitive and exciting the sport can be – and how much concentration in extended periods is needed to stay on top. Their may be a fair bit of jiggery pokery in the cutting edge cars these days, but one second’s concentration lapse, and as an F1 driver it could be the difference between first and last place in the race.

With Heikki Kovalainen and Nelson Piquet Jr. joining the fray, there will be some fresh new talent in F1 for 2008 and I’m sure it’s going to shake the sport up and make it more exciting for all the fans, bringing more and more people into following F1.

Let’s all wish Lewis good luck for the New year’s F1 season!