FORMULA 1/ BELGIAN GRAND PRIX:LEWIS HAMILTON was denied a dramatic Belgian Grand Prix win yesterday after race stewards dropped him to third place following a late race battle with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen that left the Briton on the top step of the podium and the defending champion's title hopes as shattered as his car after the Finn crashed out.

Hamilton had toiled through 41 laps behind Raikkonen, the Finn having stolen the lead on the second lap of the race after Hamilton had spun at the La Source hairpin on lap two.

The Englishman had reeled the defending champion in over the intervening period, but with a few laps left and a second between them it looked like three-time Belgian GP winner Raikkonen had done enough to seal his first win since Spain, over three long months ago.

But, in true Spa fashion, then came the rain. Three laps from home and with the pair almost nose to tail the heavens opened and a classic and chaotic battle ensued. As they went into the Bus Stop chicane, Hamilton made his first attempt, banging wheels with Raikkonen as they fought for control on worn, dry-weather tyres on an increasingly treacherous track.

Raikkonen defended the bruising move, forcing Hamilton down the escape road.

But as they crossed the start/finish line on the run-up to the La Source hairpin, Hamilton tucked into the Finn's slipstream.

He feinted right, Raikkonen reacted and then Hamilton was inside the Ferrari, brushing past as they headed for the hairpin. Raikkonen tried to nudge back in front, down the inside of the hairpin and tapped the McLaren, but it only pushed Hamilton forward and the Briton took the lead.

It wasn't over, though. Coming upon the slow Williams of Nico Rosberg at the Fagnes, Hamilton slid onto the grass, allowing Raikkonen back in front - only for the Ferrari to spin on the exit.

Hamilton managed to rejoin and this time would keep the lead to the end of the race, as Raikkonen lost control for a second time on the way out of Blanchimont and slammed into the barriers. Race over and, for Raikkonen, the championship too. Or so it seemed then.

The battle was frenzied but looked clean, and Hamilton left the podium sure he had extended his championship lead over Massa to eight points with five races left.

But within minutes of the chequered flag falling it was announced that the stewards were to investigate incidents between Hamilton and Raikkonen during the lap-long tussle. And shortly before 6.30pm they announced that Hamilton would be penalised 25 seconds for cutting across a chicane to gain an advantage before passing the defending world champion. The sanction dropped him to third place behind new race winner Felipe Massa and BMW-Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.

After the race Hamilton had described the battle as tough but, in his opinion, fair. "I was praying for rain, I wanted the rain to come, I knew how to deal with it and the heavens opened. I saw Kimi about to back off into Turn 8 and I knew the fight was on.

"Into Turn 12 I was going reasonably wide, it looked like Rosberg had done a spin and came back onto the track and I nearly crashed into him," he added. "I went over the grass, Kimi spun at the exit and I got it. It was straightforward from there. It was incredibly tough."

Raikkonen later said he was only prepared to accept victory in the battle and second place would not have been enough. "I was prepared to win or lose, but unfortunately I went off," said the champion. "I only wanted to win. I slid wide on the fast left-hander and tried to come back on the circuit but I spun.

"There are rules about cutting chicanes and gaining an advantage and they are looking at it. So I don't have anything to say," the Finn had said of the inquiry.

The altered result now leaves Hamilton on 76 points, just two clear of Massa as Formula One heads for Monza next week.

Behind the leading trio, the chaos and disorder was just as intense.

Before the rain arrived, it had appeared straightforward, with Massa being trailed by the Renault of Fernando Alonso and the twin Toro Rossos of Sébastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel. Behind those were the BMWs of Heidfeld and Robert Kubica. But the rain turned what should have been a steady procession to the chequered flag into disorder.

Heidfeld and Alonso had to make their second stops and went to the pits as the rain started. That bounced Bourdais to fourth and then, briefly, third after Raikkonen had hit the wall.

The chance of a unique podium finish for the tiny Toro team was wiped out, however, when Alonso and Heidfeld emerged on intermediate tyres. With the rest of the field skittering around on dry tyres in the downpour, Heidfeld and Alonso scythed through at up to 30 seconds a lap faster, breezing past the cars in front, Heidfeld to claim third and Alonso fourth, ahead of Vettel, Kubica and a hard-charging Timo Glock of Toyota.

But Glock was penalised for passing cars under yellow flag restriction, thus promoting Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber to eighth for a point.

"It was a hero or zero decision," said Heidfeld. "I was stuck behind cars for most of the race and I had to stop earlier than some of them, including Vettel and Robert (Kubica) for the second stop.

"When it started to drizzle I thought about taking a gamble and to go on inters. The team asked me again, but it was a perfect call. When I went out and they said two laps to go, I could not see anyone in front of me. They went so slow and I overtook a couple of cars on the last lap.

"The last car I overtook going into Turn 10 blocked pretty hard. I nearly went on the grass in those wet conditions, but I stayed on track. It wasn't really clever, but I got by and it was a great race for me."

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.

FINAL POSITIONS

after Race (44 Laps) after stewards inquiry

1 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1hr 22min 59.394sec

2 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:23:13.773

3 Lewis Hamilton (Brit) McLaren 1:23:09.933

4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:23:13.872

5 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:23:13.970

6 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:23:14.371

7 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:23:16.033

8 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:23:41.433

9 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:23:42.133

10 David Coulthard (Brit) Red Bull at 1 Lap

11 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1 Lap

12 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1 Lap

13 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1 Lap

14 Jenson Button (Brit) Honda 1 Lap

15 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1 Lap

16 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 2 Laps

Not Classified: 17 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 43 Laps completed, 18 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 42 Laps completed, 19 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 19 Laps completed, 20 Nelson Piquet Jr (Bra) Renault 13 Laps completed

Fastest Lap: Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) 1min 47.930 on Lap 24

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

(after Belgian Grand Prix)

Drivers:

1 Lewis Hamilton (Brit) McLaren 76pts

2 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 74

3 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 58

4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 57

5 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 49

6 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 43

7 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 26

8 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 23

9 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 19

10 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 15

11 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Bra) Renault 13

12 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Scuderia Toro Rosso 13

13 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 11

14 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 9

15 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 8

16 David Coulthard (Brit) Red Bull 6

17 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 4

18 Jenson Button (Brit) Honda 3

Manufacturers:

1 Ferrari 131pts

2 McLaren 119

3 BMW Sauber 107

4 Toyota 41

5 Renault 36

6 Red Bull 25

7 Williams 17

8 Scuderia Toro Rosso 17

9 Honda 14