Pascal Maldonado topped the first session of GP2 practice with a lap in 1:20.476, which was quicker than the first session F1 times from Virgin Racing's Lucas di Grassi (1:20.556) and HRT pair Bruno Senna (1:21.688) and Karun Chandhok (1:21.853). Furthermore, the top six in the GP2 field were all quicker than the HRTs.

Monaco Grand Prix stewards have ruled that Michael Schumacher was in breach of article 40.13 of the F1 sporting regulations when he passed Fernando Alonso's Ferrari at the last corner of the last lap in Monte Carlo. Schumacher therefore had 20s added to his race time and dropped from sixth to 12th in the final race classification. Mercedes has, however, taken the matter to the FIA Court of Appeal.

Previously, whenever the Safety Car has gone in after being deployed, drivers have not been permitted to overtake before reaching the start/finish line. This year, however, a rule clarification said that drivers may overtake once they are past the Safety Car line, they do not have to wait until the start-finish line. On any lap other than the last one, that is.

Article 40.13 states: "If the race ends while the Safety Car is deployed it will enter the pitlane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking."

The intent of that rule seems clear enough but the Mercedes appeal is likely to centre around the word 'deployed.' The team could argue that when the Safety Car returned to the pits it had its lights off and the circuit lights were green, not yellow. Therefore, they may argue, the race did not end with the Safety car deployed and Schumacher was free to attack Alonso.

Team principal Ross Brawn explained: "We believed that the track had gone green and the race was not finishing under a Safety Car when article 40.13 clearly would have applied. The reason for the Safety Car had been removed, the FIA had announced 'Safety Car in this lap' early on lap 78 and the track had been declared clear by race control. This was further endorsed when the marshals showed green flags and lights after safety car line one. On previous occasions when it has been necessary to complete a race under a safety car, full course yellows are maintained, as in Melbourne 2009. On the last lap, we therefore advised our drivers that they should race to the line and Michael made his move on Fernando for sixth place. We have appealed the decision of the stewards."

Mercedes GP has decided not to press ahead with its appeal against Michael Schumacher's 20-second penalty at the Monaco Grand Prix, after the FIA agreed to talks about tidying up the safety car regulations.

Schumacher grabbed sixth place from Fernando Alonso at the final corner of the Monaco Grand Prix, shortly after the safety car had pulled into the pits at the end of the last lap.

The Mercedes GP team believed that the move was legitimate because racing is this season allowed from safety car line one at a safety car restart, rather than just from the start-finish line.

The FIA believed, however, that Schumacher's move was not allowed because it breached Article 40.13 which states that no overtaking is allowed if the race finishes behind the safety car.

The rule says: "If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking."

Mercedes GP argued that the race did not finish under the safety car because there were 'Safety Car in this lap' and 'Track Clear' messages from race control, plus green flags and lights after safety car line one - suggesting that racing had briefly restarted.

In a statement issued by Mercedes GP on Tuesday, the team stated: "This opinion appears to have been shared by the majority of the teams with cars in the top ten positions who also gave their drivers instructions to race to the finish line."

The team's claims were not supported by the race stewards in Monaco, however, who reported that Schumacher had breached Article 40.13 and handed him a 20-second penalty in lieu of a drive-through from the team. That dropped him down to 12th in the standings.

On Sunday night, Mercedes GP notified the FIA that it planned to appeal the stewards' decision - even though drive-through penalties cannot in theory be protested. It needed to confirm its appeal plans by the end of Tuesday, but has decided not to follow it through.

In its statement, Mercedes GP said it understood why there could be differing interpretations of Article 40.13, which is why it welcomed an agreement from the FIA to discuss and clarify the rule at the next meeting of think-tank the Sporting Working Group.

"It was clear from our discussions with the stewards after the race that they understood the reasons for our interpretation and acknowledged that this was a new and previously untested situation but ultimately disagreed with our interpretation," said a Mercedes GP statement.

"Mercedes GP would like to emphasise that we fully support the inclusion of past drivers on the stewards' panel and are completely satisfied that the Monaco Grand Prix stewards acted professionally, impartially and properly in this matter.

"The FIA has agreed to include article 40.13 on the agenda of the next Sporting Working Group for discussion and to consider the scale of post race penalties. We believe that the 20-second penalty imposed on Michael to be disproportionate in the circumstances.

"Whilst we cannot be happy with the outcome, we are pleased that the FIA has recognised the reasons for our interpretation. Therefore in the best interests of the sport, Mercedes GP will not be submitting an appeal."

Formula 1's ruling body has moved to try to clarify the safety car rules following the incident involving Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso in the Monaco Grand Prix.

Schumacher was handed a 20-second penalty after passing Alonso on the final corner of the race, just as the safety car had dived into the pits.

The Mercedes driver was penalised for breaking rule 40.13 of the sporting regulations, which states, "If the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pit lane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking."

However, Mercedes, which initially considered appealing the penalty, believed the race had finished normally and not under the safety car.

On Thursday the FIA recognised a lack of clarity in the rules and said the Formula One Commission will submit a change to the rules in order to avoid a repeat of the situation.

"The problems identified during the final lap of the Monaco Grand Prix, counting for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, showed a lack of clarity in the application of the rule prohibiting overtaking behind the Safety Car," the FIA said in a statement.

"Adjustments to the regulations are necessary to clarify the procedure that cars must meet when the last lap is controlled by the Safety Car whilst also ensuring that the signaling for teams and drivers is made more clear.

"These adjustments will help to avoid the problem which occurred during the Monaco Grand Prix from happening in the future.

"The Formula One Commission, upon a proposal of the F1 Sporting Working Group will submit an amendment to the Sporting Regulations to address this issue. These amendments will be considered by the World Motor Sport Council at its next meeting in Geneva on June 23."