LEWIS HAMILTON has been stripped of the pole position he claimed ahead of tomorrow’s Spanish Grand Prix after stopping his car on the track due to a fuel shortage.
The McLaren Mercedes driver was due to start out in front, alongside Pastor Maldonado of Williams in second position.
Hamilton had set the fastest time in qualifying, but his team called on him to stop the car today before qualifying ended because there was not enough fuel on board as specified under race rules.
Under those rules, a car must return to the pits with one litre of fuel on board for testing, as the BBC’s Andrew Benson explains.
The McLaren team’s claims that the fuel shortage was ‘force majeure’ was rejected by the stewards although the shortage and Hamilton now starts tomorrow’s race at the back of the grid.
Maldonado now starts in poll – the first for Williams-Renault since 1997, according to the team.
