Caterham's Heikki Kovalainen has been handed a 5-place grid penalty for next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix for breaching the safety car regulations during this evening's Australian Grand Prix.

Kovalainen was judged to have overtaken two cars before the pit entry while pitting under the safety car. Drivers entering the pitlane are allowed to overtake cars that stay on-track, but only when they are in the pit entry. The pit entry is defined as the area between safety car line 1 and the pitlane.

The stewards deemed Kovalainen's actions as a breach of Article 40.8 of the sporting regulations and handed him a 5-place grid drop for his next event.