Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren team have been disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix for giving "deliberately misleading" evidence to investigating race stewards.
The sport's world governing body FIA reopened an investigation on Thursday into the circumstances which saw Toyota's Jarno Trulli pass Hamilton during a safety car period in Melbourne.
A post-race stewards' probe in Australia adjudged Trulli at fault and handed the Italian a 25-second penalty, dropping him from third to 12th.
But after hearing team radio transmissions from the Australian GP, the decision has been reversed with Hamilton and McLaren now punished for providing intentionally disingenuous information to the Melbourne hearing.
Hamilton, who was originally listed in fourth place in Melbourne, has therefore been excluded from any points for the race while Trulli has been reinstated to third.
In a statement, the stewards declared: "The Stewards having considered the new elements presented to them from the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, consider that driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29th March 2009, a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.
"Under Article 158 of the International Sporting Code the driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are excluded from the race classification for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix and the classification is amended accordingly."
source from skysports news
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12433_5133456,00.html
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