Hamilton suffers from stewards again

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Lewis Hamilton will have left the Spa circuit on Sunday night believing an injustice had been served in Belgium.

For the fifth time in 13 races Hamilton suffered at the hands of the race stewards as the ninth win of his career was taken away two hours after he had crossed the finishing line.

A three-man panel - Nicholas Deschenaux, Surinder Thatti and Yves Bacquelaine - deemed Hamilton had gained an advantage in cutting a chicane.

That had occurred at the end of lap 42 of the 44-lap race, taking the lead as he battled with Kimi Raikkonen in the closing stages.

Hamilton correctly handed first place back to the reigning world champion, as the rules dictate, before legitimately passing him again on the run down to the first corner La Source hairpin.

In wet conditions, the lead then changed hands twice more on the penultimate lap prior to Raikkonen spinning into a wall, handing Hamilton the win.

Or so the 23-year-old thought, only to be demoted to third, with Felipe Massa the victor, so cutting Hamilton's lead at the top of the championship standings to two points.

Hamilton was not allowed to comment after the stewards' verdict, but an answer to a question beforehand said it all.

Asked as to whether he would be surprised if the stewards punished him, Hamilton replied: "Absolutely, absolutely.

"This is motor racing and if there's a penalty, then there's something wrong because I was ahead going into that corner, so I didn't gain an advantage from it.

"We were still able to race at the next corner and I gave him his spot back, and I think it was fair and square, so I think it would be absolutely wrong."

Somewhat pertinently, he added: "But you know what they (stewards) are like."

So it proved, adding to Hamilton's woes with the stewards this year as he received a five-place grid penalty in Malaysia - along with team-mate Heikki Kovalainen - for impeding others in qualifying.

Hamilton was then demoted 10 places for the French Grand Prix after driving into the back of Raikkonen in the pit lane in the previous race in Canada.

He also received a drive-through penalty in Magny-Cours for cutting a corner and not handing the place back.

And then there was a £4,000 fine for being late to a press conference in Valencia a fortnight ago.

McLaren have registered their intention to appeal the decision, however, FIA rules dictate they are unable to protest a drive-through penalty.

It will be one for the Court of Appeal to decide whether they have grounds on which to pursue their complaint, otherwise it will be dropped.

A team statement read: "We looked at all our data, and also made it available to the FIA stewards.

"It showed that, having lifted, Lewis was six kilometres per hour slower than Kimi as they crossed the start-finish line.

"Having passed the lead back to Kimi, Lewis repositioned his car, moving across and behind Kimi to the right-hand line, and then out-braked him into the hairpin.

"Based on this data, we have no option other than to register our intention to appeal.

"We are a racing team and we will now focus on Monza, with a view to extending our lead in the drivers' world championship."

That can now be Hamilton's only recourse, to leave this behind him and put one over on Ferrari in their own backyard.

Sandwiching Massa and Hamilton was BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, with Fernando Alonso fourth in his Renault.

The Toro Rossos of Sebastian Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais were fifth and seventh, with Robert Kubica sixth in his BMW Sauber, while Mark Webber claimed eighth in his Red Bull.