Hamilton stripped of Belgium title after messy race

Mclaren8217;s Lewis Hamilton was stripped of victory in a thrilling Belgian Grand Prix after stewards decided he had gained an...

Mclaren8217;s Lewis Hamilton was stripped of victory in a thrilling Belgian Grand Prix after stewards decided he had gained an advantage by cutting a chicane during a last-gasp duel with Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton was given a 25-second time penalty by officials, which saw him demoted to third and victory handed to second-place Felipe Massa, allowing the Ferrari driver to cut the Briton8217;s lead in the championship to just two points.

Brazilian Massa crossed the line second but won the 10 points ahead of Germany8217;s Nick Heidfeld, the BMW-Sauber driver promoted to second. Hamilton won six points to move to 76 in the championship to Massa8217;s 74.

World champion Raikkonen had led until rain began to fall and Hamilton reeled in the Ferrari and powered past on the penultimate lap. The action did not stop there, with the desperate Raikkonen fighting back to retake the lead before losing control on the slippery surface and smashing into a wall while Hamilton went wide over the grass.

The two rivals had already banged bodywork, skidded and narrowly avoided other cars before stewards decided that Hamilton8217;s late maneouvre had broken the rulebook. It was a stunning turnaround to an afternoon that, until two laps from the end, looked sure to revive Raikkonen8217;s championship hopes with a fourth Belgian GP win in succession.

Starting in fourth place, the Finn made a determined move on Massa after running wide at the tight first corner. The two Ferraris ran side by side up the hill before Raikkonen scythed past and took the chase to Hamilton.

Hamilton then locked his right front tyre and spun at La Source at the start of the second lap, with Raikkonen seizing the advantage.

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Renault8217;s double world champion Fernando Alonso was fourth with Germany8217;s Sebastian Vettel fifth for Toro Rosso.

Double finish

Meanwhile, Force India managed their fourth double finish of the season with Adrian Sutil finishing 13th and Giancarlo Fisichella 17th. 8220;It was a strong race for us. We had quite a lot of fights on the circuit and lots of overtaking,8221; Sutil said.