Qualifying time penalty for 'dangerous' Alonso.

Fernando Alonso's hopes of holding Michael Schumacher at bay in the driver's standings have received a blow after he was given a two-second penalty in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix following an altercation with Robert Doornbos.

The Spaniard was blamed by race stewards for dangerous driving when he was thought to have swerved in front of the Dutchman when the Red Bull driver ruined one of the championship leader's fastest laps.

After the incident in the second practice session of the day, both Alonso and Doornbos were summoned to the race stewards to explain their actions, which reportedly included Alonso making gestures to Doornbos and deliberately cutting him up down the pit straight.

Alonso is then reported to have pulled in front of Doornbos out of the turn one and then brake early into the second turn, forcing Doornbos to take avoiding action.

The stewards duly regarded Alonso's action as 'unnecessary, unacceptable and dangerous' and have given him arguably one of the toughest penalties on a circuit that is described as one of the hardest to overtake on. Renault have decided not to appeal.

The penalty will see one second imposed on Alonso at the end of each qualifying sector, with another second added at the end of the same session for overtaking under yellow flags, meaning the Spaniard will have a great difficulty making it into the final top ten cut.

It is a massive blow for Alonso, as the penalty will put him on the back foot in an already tense title battle and with overtaking tough on the Hungaroring, his hopes of retaining the title now look slimmer than ever.

It is also another penalty that is likely to make the drivers sit up and take notice, following several high profile drivers feeling the wrath of an increasingly tough steward procedure, the most notable being Michael Schumacher's penalty for deliberately blocking the Monaco track back in May.