Andy Soucek has been demoted to fourth in the results of the first Formula 2 race at Spa, losing the championship lead in the process.

The former GP2 driver had finished second behind Tobias Hegewald, but on lap three he had cut the Les Combes chicane and then delayed Julien Jousse as he rejoined. This caused Jousse to fall behind Milos Pavlovic, where he remained until the flag.

The officials subsequently decided to add 10 seconds to Soucek's race time, dropping him to fourth behind Pavlovic and Jousse.

Soucek's original result had put him at the head of the points, but he is now third behind Jousse and Mirko Bortolotti.

Before the penalty was applied, Soucek admitted that he felt guilty for hampering Jousse's race.

"I have to apologize to Julien Jousse because he had to avoid me when I went over the grass and he ended up losing third to Milos," Soucek said.

Jousse agreed that the incident had caused him a major problem, but bore no malice towards Soucek.

"It was a very dangerous moment, because he came back onto the track right onto my line and if I hadn't given way we would have crashed," Jousse said. "Having said that I can understand the move Andy tried - if I was in his place I might have even tried the same thing."