Lewis Hamilton did not gain an advantage from his controversial overtaking of Kimi Raikkonen at the Belgian Grand Prix, his barrister said today.

Stewards handed Hamilton a retrospective 25-second 'drive-through' penalty which saw the Briton demoted from first to third.

But at a hearing into McLaren's appeal at the FIA headquarters in Paris, Mark Philips QC said: "The stewards say Hamilton cut a chicane and so gained an advantage. The evidence will show Hamilton gave the advantage back to Raikkonen."

Under FIA rules a drive-through penalty "is not susceptible to an appeal".

However, Philips submitted that as no drive-through took place — Hamilton did not take to the pit lane for his penalty — his punishment relates to time only, which can be appealed against.

Philips pointed out that after last season's Japanese Grand Prix an appeal was heard when Vitantonio Liuzzi was handed a 25sec penalty for passing Spyker's Adrian Sutil under waved yellow flags.

Philips, who acted on behalf of Spyker, won that case, allowing Sutil to claim eighth place.