Hamilton punishment whips up another F1 storm

By Alan Baldwin

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (Reuters) - Formula One faced familiar accusations of shooting itself in the foot on Monday after McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was stripped of a sensational Belgian Grand Prix win.

"This is the worst judgement in the history of F1," fulminated former champion and television commentator Niki Lauda after race stewards handed McLaren's championship leader a retrospective 25-second penalty that dropped him to third place.

"It's absolutely unacceptable when three (stewards) influence the championship like this," the Austrian told German reporters.

After a processional European Grand Prix in Valencia, and against a backdrop of concern about the lack of thrills and overtaking, Hamilton's winner-takes-all duel with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in Spa had given the sport exactly what it wanted.

The fans left hailing a stirring Hamilton victory only to find out hours later that Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the victor.

Britain's tabloid newspapers bellowed an entirely predictable chorus of outrage, after what had been hailed as one of the greatest wins of the 23-year-old Briton's career.

"Just when you thought F1 couldn't get any more ridiculous..," declared the Daily Mail in a back page headline.

"Instead of celebrating one of the greatest duels of recent times, revelling in true genius by Raikkonen and Hamilton and lauding a remarkable win, that same old stench emanated from Formula One," said the Daily Mirror in a race report.