Malang Buat Hamilton

Hamilton stripped of Spanish pole and demoted to back of grid after stopping McLaren on track

By SPORTSMAIL REPORTER

Lewis Hamilton has been dramatically moved to the back of the grid for the Spanish Grand Prix after being excluded from qualifying.

McLaren have been found guilty of a fuel irregularity under the current FIA technical regulations as Hamilton stopped on track after seemingly claiming the team's 150th pole in Formula One.

McLaren had cited force majeure and had hoped to remain on pole, but following a lengthy stewards' hearing the 27-year-old and the team have been handed a severe penalty.

Limping home: Hamilton's McLaren was pushed into the pits after qualifying

GRID POSITIONS

1 Pastor Maldonado (Williams)
2 Fernando Alson (Ferrari)
3 Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
4 Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)
5 Sergio Perez (Sauber)
6 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
7 Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
8 Michael Schumacher (Mercedes)
9 Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber)
10 Jenson Button (McLaren)

An FIA statement read: 'The stewards received a report from the race director (Charlie Whiting) which stated that during post-qualifying scrutineering a sample of fuel was required from car 4 (Hamilton).

'However, the car failed to return to the pits under its own power as required under article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One technical regulations.

'The stewards heard from the team representative, Mr Sam Michael, who stated that the car stopped on the circuit for reasons of force majeure.

'A team member had put an insufficient quantity of fuel into the car, thereby resulting in the car having to be stopped on the circuit in order to be able to provide the required amount for sampling purposes.

'As the amount of fuel put into the car is under the complete control of the competitor, the stewards cannot accept this as a case of force majeure.

'The stewards determine that this is a breach of article 6.2 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations and the competitor is accordingly excluded from the results of the qualifying session.

'The competitor is, however, allowed to start the race from the back of the grid.'

Say what: Hamilton speaks to McLaren communications officer Steve Cooper after what appeared to be a superb qualifying session

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh had insisted a technical issue - which he refused to specify - forced their hand and it was not fuel related.

FIA rules state a car must return to the pits after qualifying, and then have a litre of fuel remaining for a sample to be taken.

Whitmarsh claims 1.3 litres was extracted, but the question is if the additional 0.3litres would have been adequate to see Hamilton make it back to the McLaren garage.

If the stewards find against McLaren and Hamilton it will likely result in a grid penalty, handing pole to Williams' Pastor Maldonado after the Venezuelan proved exceptional.

'There was enough fuel to take a fuel sample,' said Whitmarsh.

'But we stopped the car, we're now talking to the stewards about that, but there was 1.3 litres of fuel taken out of the car.

Top of the pile: Hamilton was in high spirits after a brilliant qualifying performance - only to see his efforts dashed

'The regulations are you have to do that (in) lap unless there is a force majeure. That's the discussion that will probably happen. If it's considered to be force majeure then it's okay.'

Asked if there was no force majeure whether Hamilton could have driven back to parc ferme and then had enough fuel for a sample, Whitmarsh replied "yes" on both occasions.

Questioned on whether there was radio evidence to support their claim, Whitmarsh added: 'We told Lewis to stop. We knew there was a problem, and Lewis did everything right, everything the team asked of him.'

But Whitmarsh refused to divulge the nature of the problem, simply stating: 'It was technical. It's not for me to decide, but I would believe it to be force majeure. Now it's for the stewards to decide.'

Celebration time: Fernando Alonso, Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado were jubilant in parc ferme

Suggested he was being coy, a defensive Whitmarsh countered: "We are talking to the stewards at the moment.

'It would be wrong for me to talk publicly about something they have not made a decision on. That's normal.

'It was a technical problem that happened in the garage that did not impede the performance of the car in any way. We stopped the car when it had 1.3 litres of fuel left in the car.'

Whitmarsh crucially refused to rule out human error, but is obviously hopeful the stewards will side with his team, especially in light of Hamilton's performance.

Over to you: Martin Whitmarsh is leaving the matter in the hands of race stewards

The 27-year-old finished nearly 0.6secs clear of Maldonado, with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso currently lining up third on the grid.

'I think Lewis did a fantastic job throughout that session,' said Whitmarsh.

'We've all seen how difficult it is at the moment to be consistent, switch everything on at the right time, but Lewis and his team, his engineers, did a great job.

'It was a massive margin by the situation within Formula One at the moment. He undoubtedly deserves to be there.'

Upgraded: Maldonado (right) was bumped up to pole - the first of his Formula One career

For his part, Hamilton claims he felt nothing wrong before being told to stop.

Hamilton said: 'The guys came across the radio and said we had to stop the car on the track because there was a technical problem.

'So I stopped, but I was so excited about my lap, I didn't even think about it. I just stopped and waited for someone to hold the car so I could get out. I never really thought about it.'

The current situation stems back to the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix when McLaren were at the centre of controversy again.

On that occasion the team were reprimanded and fined 10,000 US dollars when Hamilton deliberately stopped on the in lap after qualifying to save fuel.

That resulted in FIA technical director Charlie Whiting issuing a directive to all teams that read: 'Any team whose car stops on the slowing down lap after the race will be asked by the stewards to explain why this happened.

'If they are not satisfied the reasons were beyond the control of the driver or team, and feel this has been done deliberately to gain a competitive advantage, appropriate action will be taken.'