Sebastian Vettel will start the Etihad Airways Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from the pit lane after being thrown out of qualifying after his car was found to have “insufficient fuel for sampling”.
The German was relegated from third on the grid all the way back to 24th and last, after being sensationally disqualified.
Vettel, who leads Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso by just 13 points heading into Sunday’s race, has vowed to fight back and took the stewards' decision in his stride.
“One of the best ski jumpers ((Finland's former Olympic champion Matti Nykanen) of all times once said ‘Every chance is an opportunity’ and as far as we are concerned there are still plenty of chances tomorrow,” Vettel said in a statement released late on Saturday.
Abu Dhabi pole sitter Lewis Hamilton ironically suffered a similar for the same infringement in Barcelona but roared back to finish eighth.
Red Bull's decision ensures Vettel will avoid any potential Turn One drama.
Team principal Christian Horner said Vettel had taken the decision “remarkably well”.
"Sebastian was remarkably calm. He dealt with it and said 'Out of a negative comes a positive," said Horner. "He'll be maximum attack tomorrow.
"There's a long race ahead of us tomorrow and there's an opportunity," added the principal. "We'll attack the race and I'm sure Sebastian will demonstrate to everybody why he's a great racer.
"He's come from the back and produced great races before and I've got no doubt that he can do it again tomorrow."
The 25-year-old double world champion Vettel has led every lap of the last three races and would have been chasing a fifth win in succession under the floodlights of the glittering Yas Marina circuit.
Instead it will be a case of damage limitation at a circuit where most drivers are likely to do one pit stop and where overtaking has never been easy.
The dramatic turn of event has given Ferrari's Fernando Alonso a sniff of turning tables on Vettel despite being way off the pace at the weekend.
Instead of starting four places behind Vettel, the Spaniard will now start 18 places in front of his title rival in sixth place.
All eyes will be on Vettel and Alonso after a decision which could change the course of Formula One history.
Vettel cannot be written off despite having the whole field in front of him.
Not least because it was at Yas Marina circuit that the German and Red Bull driver was crowned the youngest world champion in 2010 after having the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix the previous year.
The defending two-time world champion seemed poised for a victory in Abu Dhabi after reigniting his treble world title hopes with four consecutive wins beginning in Singapore.
Enjoying a 13-point lead over his nearest rival Fernando Alonso of Ferrari with three races to go, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton literally put the brakes on Vettel's charge by grabbing pole position in Abu Dhabi.
Vettel qualified in third position behind his Red Bull team mate Mark Webber before being thrown to the back of the starting line-up after being penalised for not carrying enough fuel as required by FIA's technical regulations.
It capped a miserable Saturday for Vettel whose car suffered with brake problems limiting his first session to only two laps. He also grazed the wall at one point later in the session, briefly lost control in one turn and then saw his car come to a stop on the track when the session was over.
Yet Vettel was pleased that he had managed third in qualifying before the disqualification.
"I think what we had in qualifying was still pretty good and competitive," he said. "Obviously, some boxes will never be ticked so we won't get the answers we wanted to. But we found a compromise nevertheless," said Vettel.
He also dismissed suggestions that he would change his strategy after Alonso qualified in seventh (promoted to sixth) because the Abu Dhabi track is traditionally not conducive to passing.
"We have to try to win the race. You can't go around looking at one guy particular," said Vettel, referring to Alonso. "We go for the fastest race. At the moment, Lewis is ahead of us. We will try and hunt him down."
Vettel certainly believes in the art of the possible.
"I'm sure it's not impossible. It's definitely possible to pass people even though it is not easy. The race pace should be pretty good," he said.
"I'm very excited," said Hamilton, who won last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Vettel crashed out.
"It's the first time for a long time we've been ahead of the Red Bulls at the start of the race. The team has done a fantastic job all weekend. I don't know why the car works so well here ... I guess it just suits the track."
Indeed Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, was pleasantly surprised to be ahead of the Red Bull duo after clocking 1 minute, 40.630 seconds on the 5.5km Yas Marina circuit on Saturday.
"It was faster than expected. Mark (Webber) did a great lap as well. I never imagined we would have been this far ahead of them (Red Bull). It's a blessing in disguise to be ahead of them," he said.
As Webber pointed out Hamilton has not been a great starter this season.
"Lewis's starts of late haven't been phenomenal," he pointed out.
Vettel's original game plan was to attack Hamilton and was philosophical when asked about his failure to gain pole position.
"We don't have to be (Albert) Einstein to make out whether it's good when you are ahead and bad if you are behind. Today there is no points and there is a long race tomorrow. Some of the guys were quick in qualifying but may be they are slow in the race. All this we will find out tomorrow," he said.
"If you are quicker then it's also possible to overtake. This game might be tricky we have seen in the previous years. But it's not impossible," he added.
Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
