Hamilton demoted after Alonso run-in

Hamilton, 23, was downgraded from fourth to ninth after race stewards upheld the angry claims of Alonso and Heidfield, accusing the British driver of 'dangerously' baulking them during qualifying.

Alonso, 26, effectively sacked by McLaren at the end of an acrimonious season alongside Hamilton, said: "It was the worst driving in that situation that I've ever seen."

Hamilton's new teammate, Heikki Kovalainen, suffered a similar fate, dropping from third to eighth place as Heidfeld joined twice world champion Alonso in protesting against the McLaren men.

The new storm between Alonso and Hamilton erupted at the end of a bleak week for McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, whose older brother, Michael, 66, died suddenly last weekend.

After witnessing Hamilton's victory in the opening round in Melbourne, Dennis flew home from Australia to be with other members of his family.

But with the funeral delayed by the need for an inquest, Dennis completed outstanding company business and unexpectedly rejoined his team, travelling 18,000 miles in six days to get to Sepang.

Alonso's rant against Hamilton offered vivid proof that the wounds opened in last year's hostilities have not healed.

He claimed his Renault, at full speed as he tried to improve his grid position in the final moments of qualifying, was impeded as Hamilton and Kovalainen were conserving fuel at slow speed after completing their jobs for the day. The McLaren drivers were not alone in doing so but Alonso accused them of remaining on the racing line.

He said: "We had four cars in turn four and then the Ferraris so six cars in all [slowing down]. Four were off line, not disturbing anyone. And two were on the racing line — the McLarens.

"They finished their timed lap a little bit earlier than us but I am sure it was the worst thing.

"They are running at 60kph and we are at 300kph, so it is too big a difference in speed and a little bit dangerous."

Heidfeld moaned he had been denied third place on the grid. "I was approaching my last lap and it would have been my quickest," he said.

Hamilton had already left the storm-soaked circuit before the stewards' adjudication was made public last night.

Earlier he had said: "I was pretty much out of the way, but if I held Heidfeld up I apologise."

At that point, he had no knowledge of Alonso's protest.

In the stewards' decision, Hamilton was blamed for ruining Heidfeld's lap, while Kovalainen was found guilty of hindering Alonso.

McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said: "We accept the stewards' decision but would add that neither Lewis nor Heikki impeded any of the competitors deliberately. They did all they could to squeeze over to allow Nick and Fernando to do their quick laps."

Hamilton had a mystifyingly poor qualifying session. "I didn't do a perfect job today," he said after Ferrari's Felipe Massa and reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen annexed the front row for today's race.

Honda's Jenson Button was 11th, with David Coulthard one place back after stewards cleared his Red Bull car on safety grounds following his crash in practice. Anthony Davidson lines up last for the struggling Super Aguri team.