Belgian Grand Prix winner
Lewis Hamilton has been stripped of his stunning victory in the event at Spa-Francorchamps today after he was handed a 25-second post-race penalty by
FIA stewards.
The punishment followed an investigation into the incident between the McLaren-Mercedes star and
Ferrari's
Kimi Raikkonen, when Hamilton tried to go around the outside of his Finnish rival into the Bus-Stop chicane but – finding himself running out of room – instead had to take to the grass and rejoined the circuit along the start-finish straight alongside the reigning world champion.
Though the
Formula 1 World Championship leader subsequently backed off to allow Raikkonen past him again as per the sport's regulations, race stewards deemed that a time penalty was appropriate, dropping the Briton back to third place in the final reckoning behind newly-instated winner
Felipe Massa and BMW-Sauber's
Nick Heidfeld.
The news also sees Hamilton's title hopes dealt a blow, as his eight-point advantage over Ferrari's Massa – who himself controversially escaped a time penalty in the European Grand Prix in Valencia a fortnight ago, when his Ferrari pit crew released him into the path of
Force India's
Adrian Sutil during the Brazilian's second stop – has now been reduced to just two, with five races of the season remaining. Raikkonen sits 19 points adrift in fourth.
