Lewis Hamilton may have been in ebullient mood following his stunning on-the-road triumph in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps at the weekend, but the
Formula 1 World Championship leader's joy turned to pain after the race, when he was informed he had been stripped of the win.
The McLaren-Mercedes star crossed the line first at the end of 44 laps of nail-biting action as is so often produced by Spa, the most popular and challenging circuit on the sport's calendar having recovered from a second lap spin to get the better of
Ferrari's
Kimi Raikkonen in the closing stages as the rain fell increasingly hard in the Ardennes and the two leaders battled against the conditions on slick tyres.
Whilst Raikkonen ended up throwing his car into the wall on the treacherous surface, Hamilton survived a number of lurid moments to take the top spot what he went on to describe as an experience and a half' only to subsequently be handed a 25-second punishment for having been deemed by race stewards to have gained an advantage when he cut the chicane after he ran out of road whilst tussling with the defending world champion at the end of lap 42.
That not only dropped the British ace back down to third place in the final reckoning, but also saw his advantage in the title chase reduced from eight points to just two over newly-instated race-winner
Felipe Massa, with 50 remaining up for grabs before season's end.
That was one of the most exciting races of my whole career, the 23-year-old had reflected before learning of his penalty. It was incredibly tough. My spin on lap two put me on the back foot for the rest of the race, but I could see Kimi ahead and I was just pushing, pushing, pushing to close that gap, hoping he would catch traffic and allow me to get nearer.
