Lewis Hamilton Disqualified From Australian Grand Prix

The McLaren driver and his team have been retrospectively excluded from the Melbourne classification by the sport’s governing body.

The FIA ruled that Hamilton provided misleading information on the circumstances which led to Toyota’s Jarno Trulli being demoted from his third place finish.

The British driver had finished the race fourth overall but was promoted to the podium after reporting Trulli for illegal overtaking.

McLaren accused the Italian driver of passing Hamilton while a safety car was on the track on lap 57.

Trulli was subsequently slapped with a 25-second penalty, which saw him relegated to 12th.

Afterwards he said: “When the safety car came out towards the end of the race, Lewis Hamilton passed me but soon after he suddenly slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road.

“I thought he had a problem so I overtook him as there was nothing else I could do.”

He has been reinstated to third place.