McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was stripped of his podium finish at last weekend's Australian Grand Prix Thursday as Formula One's governing body ruled him and the team to have deliberately misled stewards.

Both Hamilton and his team were excluded from the classification for "providing evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards" at an enquiry immediately after Sunday's season opener.

The world champion was fourth when Toyota's Jarno Trulli passed him under safety car conditions on lap 57 last Sunday.

But the enquiry immediately after the Melbourne race promoted Hamilton to the third and relegated Trulli to the 12th with a 25-second penalty.

Brawn's Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello finished 1-2 at the race.

After a hastily arranged hearing in Malaysia on Thursday, however, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) ruled that Hamilton and McLaren deliberately provided misleading information on the circumstances leading to Trulli's penalty.

The decision not only handed Trulli back third place but disqualified Hamilton and his team from the race classification, while the Briton driver and his team could face further sanctions.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2009)