Yvan Muller given penalty for contact with Alain Menu

Yvan Muller has been given a 30-second penalty for the contact with team-mate Alain Menu in Shanghai. As a result, the three-time champion has dropped to third place in the drivers’ standings, and now has only a slim chance of retaining the title.

The three-time champion was given a 30-second penalty in lieu of a pit lane drive-through by the stewards after the race. Muller had hit the back of Chevrolet team-mate Alain Menu’s car whilst the two drivers were dicing for the lead at the start of lap eight.

The two cars went wide at Turn 1 as a result and both dropped behind Rob Huff’s Chevrolet Cruze. Muller had rejoined in second place ahead of Menu, but gave the position back to his Swiss team-mate, before retaking the position in a manoeuvre on the following lap.

The penalty drops Muller from second to 13th in the race result, and promotes Tom Coronel to the final step of the podium.

With no points scored by Muller in either race, after he was eliminated from race one in an incident with the BMW of Norbert Michelisz, Muller drops to third in the standings, 41 points behind Huff, with Menu now up to second, 35 points down on the new points leader.

With only 55 points available at Macau, Muller will need an exceptional weekend to overhaul the points gap to team-mate Rob Huff.