McLaren chief fury at penalty for Lewis

Tensions between the teams - last year McLaren were fined a record £50million over "spygate" - have resurfaced after Hamilton was given a 10-position grid penalty for the French Grand Prix following his blunder which put both him and his Ferrari rival out of the Montreal race.

The sanction has angered McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh, especially as Raikkonen escaped punishment when he crashed into the Force India car of Adrian Sutil during last month's Monaco Grand Prix. Whitmarsh claimed it was severe and disappointing, adding: "There was a different view taken at Monaco."

But his Ferrari counterpart, Stefano Domenicali, hit back, insisting: "It was a serious mistake from Hamilton, and I think the penalty imposed by the FIA is in line with it, even if it does not restore what was a lost opportunity for us."

Raikkonen was put out of the race after Hamilton failed to spot the red traffic light holding drivers who had just made a pit stop from rejoining the track while the safety car passed by.

The Finn, who is now seven points behind race winner Robert Kubica, said: "It is stupid. My race was ruined by Hamilton's mistake. Obviously, anyone can make mistakes, as I did two weeks ago in Monaco. But it's one thing to make a mistake at two hundred per hour but another to hit a car stopped at a red light." Hamilton, who had lead from pole position before the safety car came out following a a crash suffered by Sutil, admitted: "I'm gutted. I saw these two cars [those of Raikkonen and Kubica] jump me and it looked like they were battling in the pit lane so I was trying to be cautious. I went to look at the red light then I looked back and they had stopped. I tried to avoid them but it was an unfortunate situation when you have two cars side-by-side.

"I have apologised to Kimi but more so to my team because we were the best, no one could touch us."

Having led German team-mate Nick Heidfeld to a one-two finish for BMW-Sauber, Kubica, who survived a horrifying 185mph crash in Canada last year, now leads Hamilton by four points in the championship race

He said: "The goal was to win a Grand Prix this season, and we have done it. Now we are leading the drivers' championship and I hope the team will give me 100 per cent support to defend it to the last race."

David Coulthard exploited the carnage of a dramatic Grand Prix to score his first points of the season with third place for Red Bull.