RAF CASERT

AP Sports Writer

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was declared the winner of the Belgian Grand Prix after McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton was penalised for cutting a vital corner late in a thrilling, wet duel with world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton crossed the line with an edge of 14.4 seconds over Massa in a dramatic race after Raikkonen had crashed into the barrier, but the British driver was penalised with 25 seconds for his illegal maneouvre.

FIA race stewards said in a statement that Hamilton “cut the chicane and gained an advantage” which quickly allowed him to take the lead from Raikkonen in the rain-splashed finale run on dry tires by most drivers.

The penalty demoted Hamilton to third place, with BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld promoted to second after he was one of the few to pick wet-weather tires in the final pit stop.

“This was a very strange race,” Massa said.

McLaren could not immediately appeal Sunday’s final results because it was officially a drive-through penalty which should have been applied during the race itself. However, McLaren plan to launch an official complaint with FIA’s International Court of Appeal. It was unclear when it would be officially lodged and heard.

“We have no other option,” the team said in a statement, adding it will focus first on next Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

So, almost three hours after Hamilton was spraying champagne on friends and rivals to celebrate perhaps his most dramatic victory and a widening gap in the overall standings, the penalty left the championship a lot closer.

Instead of an eight-point edge, Hamilton still retains the lead but only by a slender 76-74 margin with 50 more points at stake in the remaining five races.

It was Massa’s second successive victory and fifth this season after his win two weeks ago in Valencia, and his most inconspicuous one. Apart from briefly leading during pit stops, he was never really in contention for victory until the stewards intervened.

“I preferred not to take any risks, especially given what was going on in front of me,” Massa said.

The incident that cost Hamilton came after the low-flung clouds over the wooded circuit suddenly released a huge shower in the last three of 44 laps. With most cars on dry tires after the final pit stop, it created more action in five minutes that many other tracks seen in a whole race.

In a furious battle for first, Hamilton ran wide across the circuit’s closing chicane and cut a corner. He said Raikkonen forced him by pushing him wide in the heat of the action and he did not want to crash into his opponent by staying on the track. Shortly afterward, though, Hamilton won the lead.

“He pushed me wide. I had no room,” Hamilton said of the incident. “This is motor racing.”

McLaren said there was nothing illegal in Hamilton’s move since he put himself behind Raikkonen’s Ferrari afterward.

“Having passed the lead back to Kimi, Lewis repositioned his car .... and outbraked him into the hairpin,” the team statement said.

The stewards did not agree that the move was legal.

Raikkonen, who overtook the pole-sitting Hamilton early and led most of the way, is far back in fourth position with 57 points in the world standing, likely turning the rest of the championship into a two-way race between Hamilton and Massa.

“I came here to win and I came close,” Raikkonen said. “It was a shame.”

BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica is third with 58 points.

It long looked like Raikkonen would win his fourth straight Belgian GP but the rain was enough to decide the race.

“I was praying: rain, rain, rain,” Hamilton said of his best shot to sweep past Raikkonen. “I wanted the rain to come.”

In just his second season, the 23-year-old Hamilton further established himself as the best driver of his generation in the rain, much like Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna did before him. The incident though, put a whole new spin on his daredevil driving.

In the dying laps, Hamilton and Raikkonen almost crashed into each other, but after some spectacular dodging, faking and weaving maneuvers Hamilton came out ahead from the Source hairpin.

The British driver soon lost the lead again to Raikkonen, when he had to veer off the track to avoid a slower car in front of him. Raikkonen was forced to take risks through the heavy traffic of lagging cars before spinning and finally crashing into the side railings.

“I saw these guys fighting like crazy,” Massa said. The Brazilian took the safe route and drove slowly over the last lap to make sure of second place – which turned into victory in the end.

Hamilton had promised to drive conservatively to pile on the points and get to his first world title. However, the challenge to prove himself the best in the wet on dry tires was too much to resist against world champion Raikkonen on one of the sport’s toughest circuits.

Hamilton only enjoyed the advantage of pole position for one lap before spinning briefly and being overtaken by Raikkonen, who started fourth.

Hamilton hung in tight but ended up in some traffic after his first pit stop, which dropped him 5.6 seconds back of the surging Raikkonen.

At halfway, Raikkonen led by 5.5 seconds over Hamilton and 11.2 over Massa.

Hamilton started closing in after the second pit stop, and with 15 laps left the Briton could see the red Ferrari less than two seconds in front of him. Massa was six seconds behind, setting up the thrilling finale.