Hamilton decision means title will be won on track

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It means the world championship will be fought for, and won, by drivers racing on the track rather than by lawyers standing before a bench full of judges.

The FIA International Court of Appeal judgement, that McLaren's plea to overturn Hamilton's demotion from first to third at Spa earlier this month was inadmissable, upholds the power of race stewards to impose instant justice.

Hamilton will now take only a one-point championship lead over Ferrari rival Felipe Massa going into Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix - F1's first night race - rather than holding a seven-point advantage had his overtaking manoeuvre on Kimi Raikkonen been deemed legal.

But if that much is clear-cut, arguments will continue to rage over perceived bias against McLaren and the amateurish manner in which crucial decisions are made. Former champion Sir Jackie Stewart has already raged against the amateur stewards.

His call for full-time officials to be appointed must now be considered as a matter of urgency.

As for the effect on Hamilton, who is making a secondary career of falling foul of F1 administrators, let no one underestimate the steely determination with which the 23-year-old British driver will attack the remaining four races of the championship.

Before he left Paris yesterday after making an appearance at the FIA headquarters, Hamilton hinted that he knew what the outcome of the attempted appeal would be.

He said: "I am a racing driver, driven by excellence. It's what I do. Whatever happens, I'm not worried either way."

Effectively, the Court of Appeal never even considered what appeared to be a very good argument by McLaren that Hamilton had complied with the rulebook by letting Raikkonen retake the lead after cutting a chicane.

McLaren offered evidence that race director Charlie Whiting had given Hamilton the green light to race on after immediately retaking the lead from Raikkonen at the next corner.

But it was deemed that the 25-second time penalty was effectively a "drive through" penalty against which there is no appeal.