McLaren: We can prove that Hamilton broke no rules at Spa

The British team claim they sought the advice of Charlie Whiting, the race director, over whether Hamilton had yielded enough ground back to Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen after cutting the Busstop chicane in their thrilling late battle for victory.

McLaren chief operating officer Martin Whitmarsh said: 'From the pit wall, we asked race control and they confirmed twice that they believed the position had been given back in a manner that was OK. If race control had instead expressed any concern regarding Lewis's actions, we would have instructed him to allow Kimi to repass for a second time.'

Time check: Lewis Hamilton with team boss Ron Dennis

McLaren are implying it is unfair of the stewards to act directly against the advice Whiting offered during the race by imposing a 25-second penalty two hours later.

Usually, though not always, the stewards would investigate an incident at Whiting's request or recommendation. It therefore seems baffling that they should go their own way when the subject under discussion had a potentially decisive role in the championship.

The penalty resulted in Hamilton being relegated to third place and Felipe Massa handed an undeserved win to move the Brazilian to within two points of Hamilton heading into the closing five rounds.

The FIA last night declined to explain why the three stewards came to their contentious conclusion. They said the matter is now sub judice. We will have to wait until the FIA court of appeal hearing, due to be held after this Sunday's Italian Grand Prix but before the Singapore race a fortnight later.

There remains a chance that the court, comprising three or four leading lawyers from around the world and drawn from the FIA list, will dismiss the case as inadmissible.

Drive-through penalties cannot be appealed, and the sanction in this case is viewed as the equivalent retrospective punishment.

However, such is the FIA's need to be seen to be fair in the face of widespread condemnation means they will be wary of waving away McLaren's concerns.That said, letting them air their case in court carries obvious risks.