McLaren's appeal will be heard by the FIA Court of Appeal

McLaren will fight the punishment that meant Lewis Hamilton was stripped of his victory in the Belgian Grand Prix.

Stewards hit the British driver with a 25-second penalty, demoting him to third, for cutting a chicane as he battled with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

But a McLaren spokesman said: "Having passed the lead back to Kimi, Lewis repositioned, moving his car across and behind Kimi to the right-hand line.

"He then outbraked him into the hairpin. We intend to appeal."

It is now up to the FIA Court of Appeal to determine whether McLaren have grounds to pursue their complaint, otherwise it will simply be withdrawn.

The incident that led to the penalty arrived at the end of lap 42 as the rain Hamilton had been praying for duly arrived.

It allowed Formula One's wet-weather king to reel in leader Raikkonen, and on approach to the Bus Stop chicane, he had the Finn in his sights.

If there's a penalty, then there's something wrong because I was ahead going into that corner, so I didn't gain an advantage from it     Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton darted around the outside, both drivers locked up their brakes on entry, and Hamilton took evasive action by using a run-off area to his left.

Returning to the track in the lead, the 23-year-old knew he had to yield his position, otherwise he would have been duly penalised.

The young Briton appeared to do so, with Raikkonen crossing the start-finish line narrowly ahead, before Hamilton promptly filed in behind.

Taking up the slipstream, he then overtook reigning world champion Raikkonen on entry to the La Source hairpin.

But race stewards Nicholas Deschaux, Surinder Thatti and Yves Bacquelaine saw things differently.

The McLaren spokesman said: "We looked at all our data, and also made it available to the FIA stewards.

"It showed that, having lifted [off the accelerator], Lewis was 6kph slower than Kimi as they crossed the start-finish line.

"Based on this data, we have no option other than to register our intention to appeal.

"We are a racing team and we will now focus on Monza (the Italian Grand Prix next Sunday), with a view to extending our lead in the drivers' world championship."

Despite his joy at the apparent win, describing his fight with Raikkonen as "one of the most exciting for a long time," Hamilton perhaps had an inkling as to what might transpire.

Asked prior to the penalty whether he would be surprised if the stewards did punish him, Hamilton replied: "If there's a penalty, then there's something wrong because I was ahead going into that corner, so I didn't gain an advantage from it.

"We were still able to race at the next corner and I gave him his spot back, and I think it was fair and square."

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali was thrilled with the turn of events, however, saying: "I have often said the race is not over until the official results are published and that was the case today."

Not for the first time this season Hamilton has incurred the wrath of the stewards, initially in Bahrain when he and team-mate Heikki Kovalainen were handed five-place grid penalties for impeding other drivers in qualifying.

Hamilton was then demoted 10 places for the French Grand Prix after driving into the back of Raikkonen in the pit lane in the previous race in Canada.

Add in the drive-through penalty in Magny-Cours and a 5,000 euros fine for being late to a press conference in Valencia a fortnight ago, and it has been a miserable year in one respect for Hamilton.

But win or lose the appeal, he still has a lead going into the final five races of the season.