Race stewards penalized Hamilton 25 seconds for cutting across a chicane to overtake then-leader Kimi Raikkonen during the closing stages of Sunday's race.

Hamilton re-emerged onto the track and allowed the Ferrari driver back into the lead before overtaking for good.

"From the pit wall, we then asked race control to confirm that they were comfortable that Lewis had allowed Kimi to re-pass, and they confirmed twice that they believed that the position had been given back in a manner that was 'OK," McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said Tuesday