Following his alleged blocking of Felipe Massa during qualifying, Fernando Alonso has been demoted to tenth on the grid. Alonso was called to the stewards office after the Brazilian driver complained that the reigning F1 World Champion had unnecessarily impeded his qualifying run.

Massa has suggested that he lost as much as three-tenths on his final lap in Q3, caused because Alonso didn’t allow enough space between himself and the Ferrari. Alonso initially protested his innocence, but the after reviewing the video evidence, the stewards have decided that Fernando Alonso had impeded Massa’s lap – albeit inadvertantly – and he has had his three fastest laps taken away.

This means Michael Schumacher will start eight places ahead of Alonso in the Italian Grand Prix, but that will not stop a hungry Alonso from fighting back in tomorrow’s clash.