Rossi gets GP2 pole as Ericsson demoted

Marcus Ericsson has been stripped of his Abu Dhabi GP2 pole position after stewards ruled that he exceeded track limits on his best qualifying lap. The decision to penalize the DAMS driver promotes Caterham's Alexander Rossi to his first pole position in the category. It also moves title contender Sam Bird to a front row starting position as he bids to overhaul Fabio Leimer's seven-point series lead.

Leimer will now start fourth, behind Jolyon Palmer, with Tom Dillmann and Johnny Cecotto Jr. rounding out the new top six.

Ericsson falls to 12th place with his second-best time. His drop moves outside title contender Felipe Nasr up to eighth.

Stefano Coletti, the other man still in the championship fight, was only 18th quickest. James Calado was ruled out of contention when he was given a five-place grid penalty for an incident with Dillmann in practice. That meant he could not get the pole bonus points required to keep his title bid alive. Calado was only 14th in qualifying in any case.