Schumacher sneaks past Alonso on last corner

Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher has been penalised for overtaking Ferrari's Fernando Alonso when it was not allowed at the end of the Monaco Grand Prix.

The decision adds 20 seconds to the German's race time, demoting him to 12th place and putting Alonso sixth.

Schumacher passed Alonso on his way out of Rascasse and into Anthony Noghes, but the move came under a safety car.

Race stewards ruled that Schumacher breached safety rules, but Mercedes have announced that they will appeal.

The four race stewards in Monaco included Schumacher's old rival Damon Hill.

Schumacher sealed the world championship in 1994 after a controversial collision with the Englishman.

Hill told BBC Sport: "Believe me my only concern was that the right thing was done, if that was the case consistently things would be better. But there was a wry smile from Michael. Slightly ironic you could say."

Brawn confident on Schumacher move

Article 40.13 of the Formula 1 sporting regulations states: "If the race ends while the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking."

Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali said: "Our understanding of the rule is pretty clear, you can't overtake on the final lap."

Two-time world champion Alonso agreed: "The team told me we couldn't overtake, so when I saw Michael, I knew they would penalise him."

But Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn argued that the race was still active because the safety car pulled off the circuit and the race was not gong to end under safety car conditions.

"From the instructions we got, the safety car was coming in, but the race itself wasn't finishing under the safety car - that is a very important distinction.

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"As soon as we got the instruction that the safety car was going in we thought the race was on again.

"Just look at the reaction of all of the other drivers, everybody was going for it," said Brawn.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa said he was told on team radio that the whole track was under yellow flag conditions when the safety car pulled into the pits, meaning that overtaking was not permitted.

But, speaking before the decision to punish him, Schumacher contradicted that claim.

Schumacher did not expect penalty

"We got the message that the safety car was in and the track was clear, that means we are back racing, so I took my opportunity," said the German legend.

"It is normal that the other team has a different opinion, but I am not expecting a penalty."

Mercedes have confirmed their intention to appeal and the team now have 48 hours to officially lodge that appeal.

The incident occurred at the final turn, Anthony Noghes, which is where Schumacher parked his car in 2006 to stop Alonso from taking pole position during qualifying.

Schumacher was also punished by the stewards for that incident, when he was ordered to start the race from the back of the grid.

Ironically, Alonso started Sunday's race from the pit lane after crashing out of Saturday's final practice session.

The Spaniard fought his way through the Monaco field from 24th to sixth and picked up eight points in Monaco, leaving him third in the drivers' championship five points behind leader Mark Webber, who won on Sunday.

The Australian is tied on points with team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who finished second at Monaco, but Webber is classified first because he has won two races to the German's one.

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