Hamilton has F1 win taken away

Lewis Hamilton span very early on in the race

Lewis Hamilton has had an amazing Grand Prix victory taken away from him, after stewards decided he'd broken the rules.

The British driver had snatched the lead at the Belgian Grand Prix with just two laps to go, and held on in the rain to seal a famous win.

But hours later an investigation into the way he overtook Kimi Raikonnen decided he had done so illegally.

Hamilton was given a 25 second penalty, pushing him to third place, and handing victory to rival Felipe Massa.

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That means Hamilton now only has a two point lead in the driver's championship. It would have been eight had the original result been allowed to stand.

Hamilton's team, McLaren, say they intend to appeal against the decision to strip him of his win.

Dramatic race

Even before Hamilton's punishment the race was a dramatic one.

For most of the race it looked like Kimi Raikonnen was going to win the race, after Hamilton had an early spin.

BELGIAN GRAND PRIX ORIGINAL RESULT 1 - Lewis Hamilton 2 - Felipe Massa 3 - Nick Heidfeld NEW RESULT 1 - Felipe Massa 2 - Nick Heidfeld 3 - Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton stayed close all the way to Raikonnen all the way, and then right at the end pulled past him in the manoeuvre that eventually cost him the 10 points for victory.

Before the end Raikonnen crashed out of the race completely, and Hamilton crawled over the line for victory.

The final laps of race were chaotic, as some cars went into the pits to put on tyres better suited to the wet weather.

Other drivers decided to stay out on their old tyres, and slipped and slid their way round the track to the finish.

Hamilton was one of those, and once again showed just how fine a driver he is when races take place in the rain.