The Italian was handed a 25-second penalty following the incident on lap 57 at Melbourne, which relegated him from third to 12th in the final classification and saw Hamilton promoted from fourth to third.

But both drivers were called before the stewards in Sepang today to address new evidence on the incident.

Following the hearing, the stewards decided to reinstate Trulli’s third place and to sanction Hamilton and McLaren by excluding them from the race classification.

They explained their decision in a statement, which read:

‘The stewards having considered the new elements presented to them from the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, consider that driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29 March 2009, a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.
‘Under Article 158 of the International Sporting Code the driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are excluded from the race classification for the 2009 Australian Grand Prix and the classification is amended accordingly.’

via RTÉ Sport

What a start for the new team, although it should really be “new” in quotations. Honda have been working on that car since last season, when they gave up hope on the 2008 car and dived into developing the 2009 car – and didnt it pay off. Well remains to be seen if the diffuser used by Brawn, Williams and Toyota will stand up to the scrutiny of an appeal. I hope it does. It looks like a bit of a tantrum from the teams that complained about it, throwing their toys out of the pram etc.

I dont think it will be long before the rest of the teams catch up. And Lewis Hamilton showed what a talented driver he really is by claiming a third spot (but no podium though – ha ha) when starting from practically the back of the grid in a less than perfect (ie shite) car. Of course the crashes, retirements, 2 safety car periods and a 25 second penalty for Jarno Trulli did work in his favour.

Next race is Malayasia this weekend, another early race, or very late if you stay up to watch it. I dont, thank god for sky+