Hamilton stripped of Australian GP podium

Lewis Hamilton and McLaren have been disqualified from last week's Australian Grand Prix after being accused of misleading race stewards.

The reigning F1 champion was deemed to have deliberately misled F1 officials when providing evidence about an incident that saw him passed by Jarno Trulli during a safety car period.

The Italian was handed a 25-second penalty following the incident on lap 57 at Melbourne, which relegated him from third to 12th in the final classification and saw Hamilton promoted from fourth to third.

But both drivers were called before the stewards in Sepang today to address new evidence on the incident.

Following the hearing, the stewards decided to reinstate Trulli's third place and to sanction Hamilton and McLaren by excluding them from the race classification.

They explained their decision in a statement, which read: "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."