Oct.6 (GMM) A day after his ten-position penalty for the now infamous Fuji collision was withdrawn by stewards, Sebastian Vettel was penalised for an incident in qualifying for the Chinese grand prix.

After qualifying an impressive twelfth, stewards ruled that the German rookie had impeded one of his competitors on the Shanghai circuit, and must move back to 17th for the race.

Toro Rosso technical director Giorgio Ascanelli, however, welcomed the improved pace of the STR2 car, which in the hands of Vettel's teammate Tonio Liuzzi qualified 11th.

"Already in Japan we saw that our car has made a step forward and here it was better still," he said.

Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson, meanwhile, was reprimanded by the stewards - but not penalised - for driving "into the working area of pitlane in an unacceptable manner."