Ralf Schumacher was blamed and penalised for a three-car crash at the start of the German Grand Prix that took himself and two other top drivers out of the race.
After reviewing tape of the race, stewards put the blame on Schumacher and ruled that he will be dropped 10 places in the starting grid from the position he qualifies for in his next Formula One race.
The Williams team said it would appeal against the ruling. A final decision is expected before the next race, the Hungarian GP on August 24.
If the appeal is rejected Schumacher said "he would accept the penalty but still thought the accident was ``an unlucky but normal racing incident.''
The accident happened before the first corner.
The accident involved the winner of the previous race in Britain (Barrichello), the winner of two of the last three races (Schumacher) and the No. 2 in the season standings (Raikkonen).
"The stewards conclude that Ralf Schumacher began to move to his left to obtain a better racing line for the first corner. Ralf Schumacher admitted to paying no attention to the position of the other cars during the manoeuvre,'' the statement said.
The stewards said it was "absolutely clear'' that Ralf Schumacher was the first to touch Barrichello's car and start the sequence of events.
"You cannot think about what people around you are doing and sometimes these incidents do happen,'' Schumacher said.
"I was just trying to defend my position and I didn't make any sudden move or anything so there was all the time in the world for other cars to move away from me,'' said the younger brother of five-time world champion Michael Schumacher.
Raikkonen didn't think it was his fault."I got off the line very well at the start and went straight down from the outside,'' the Finn said. "I was past Barrichello when he hit my rear tire. There was no where for me to go and I went into the tyre wall.
"I don't know who is to blame and it doesn't really matter, because there is nothing I can do about it.''
Barrichello spread the blame between the other two drivers.
"I had nowhere to go at the moment of the accident. I had an average start. I think both Ralf and Kimi took big risks, especially Kimi who went very wide to get past.
"Ralf moved to the left and gave me nowhere to go. I braked and then I was hit while not making any changes of direction with the steering wheel. A real shame.''
The accident cost Ralf Schumacher any chance to make ground in the battle for the title, and dropped Raikkonen from second to third.
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