Lewis Hamilton has failed in his bid to have his Belgian Grand Prix victory restored after the FIA judges declared that McLaren's appeal against his penalty was 'inadmissable'.
Much of yesterday's hearing in Paris had been devoted to arguments over whether the appeal was actually valid, as the penalty was officially regarded as drivethrough that was only applied as a time penalty because the incident took place so close to the end of the race.
Under F1 rules, drivethrough penalties cannot be appealed.
McLaren's lawyers had attempted to argue that it should be regarded differently because Hamilton never took to the pit lane and the actual penalty applied was a time addition.


But after a day of deliberation, the FIA has announced that there were no grounds to appeal the decision and that the penalty stands.
"Having heard the explanations of the parties the Court has concluded that the appeal is inadmissible," said an FIA statement.
The verdict means that Felipe Massa retains his inherited Spa win, and that Hamilton goes into the final four races of the season just one point ahead of the Brazilian in the championship.