Defending Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix yesterday for giving misleading evidence to race stewards.

The McLaren driver was awarded third place after the season-opening race in Melbourne last weekend when stewards ruled Toyota's Jarno Trulli breached regulations by passing Hamilton during a safety car period.

Trulli was reinstated to his original third-place finish yesterday by a fresh stewards hearing, while Hamilton and McLaren were excluded from the results and receive no points.

A new hearing into the matter, convened by governing body FIA, interviewed both drivers and teams, and heard new evidence which included radio transmissions between teams and drivers in Melbourne, and media interviews given by Hamilton which contradicted his evidence to stewards.

After deliberating for several hours, FIA released a statement which said Hamilton and McLaren "acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards."

"We're disappointed by what's happened, but in the circumstances we aren't going to appeal," McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said.

"I believe it was a harsh decision. Experience has told us you've got to accept these decisions," he said. "These things come along, and you have to build on your concentration for this weekend and the races to come."

In the safety car period, brought about by a late crash, Trulli was in third place when he briefly ran off the track. While passing is prohibited during safety car periods, a driver can move up if a car ahead goes off the circuit.