Giancarlo Fisichella handed 25 second penalty for Safety Car infringement at the German Grand Prix.

Force India's Giancarlo Fisichella has been handed a 25 second penalty for unlapping himself under the Safety Car during the German Grand Prix when he wasn't permitted to do so.

The Italian had elected to pit when the Safety Car was deployed following Timo Glock's heavy accident on the start-finish straight which in turn meant he shouldn't have then unlapped himself when the clerk of the course gave the call for lapped cars to come past the Safety Car and join the end of the train.

As a result, Fisichella was handed a 25 second penalty after the race which dropped him from 14th in the results down to 16th place behind both Kazuki Nakajima and fellow Force India driver Adrian Sutil.

"In the first part of the race I was not comfortable with the car as I was struggling with the grip and it was understeering and oversteering with some wheelspin, but then at the end of the run it was getting better," Fisichella reflected prior to the penalty being handed down. "On the soft tyre it was a step forward. The team made a good move for me with the strategy under the safety car and I could make up some places after I pitted and the others went in.

"I could have finished perhaps one place higher up, but unfortunately I locked up through turn eight and lost a position, but all the same it's nice to get a finish and to be racing again."