Schumacher will finally start in 22nd position in Bahrain
Like Pastor Maldonado, Michael Schumacher will be penalized by a 5-place grid drop for the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix after changing his gearbox.
Victim of a DRS issue during the first part of qualifying for the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher chose to sacrifice his qualification run to save tires for the race. Qualified 18th and benefiting from the five-place penalty imposed on Pastor Maldonado for a gearbox change, the German will finally start in 22nd position after Mercedes decided to take the opportunity to change the gearbox of the number 7 W03.
The sporting regulations requiring every driver to compete in five consecutive events with the same gearbox, and with three events already completed, Mercedes has thus decided to take advantage of a poor qualification to minimize the impact of such a penalty.
Thus, Jean-Eric Vergne should start from the 17th position, ahead of Vitaly Petrov, Charles Pic, Pedro de la Rosa, and Pastor Maldonado.
