Matt Bishop recalls Lewis Hamilton’s bizarre penalty 15 years ago that infuriated Niki Lauda

Former McLaren communication director Matt Bishop recently recalled how Lewis Hamilton's 25-second penalty at the end of the 2008 F1 Belgian Gp infuriated the former world champion Niki Lauda.

Hamilton had started the race from pole position at Spa but had relinquished his lead to Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen. Both drivers were comfortably ahead of the third-placed Felipe Massa but everything changed on Lap 41 when the Briton tried to overtake the Finn at the Bus Stop chicane and ran wide.

Lewis Hamilton took the lead but gave the position back; he gained the advantage by cutting the corner but immediately went past on Turn 1. Both drivers scrapped for the lead in the final laps before Raikkonen crashed out and Hamilton won the race.

Taking to his social media, Matt Bishop claimed that on this day 15 years ago, the FIA robbed Lewis Hamilton of the win.

"15 years ago Hamilton won the #BelgianGP for McLaren, only to be handed a 25sec penalty, demoting him to 3rd & giving the win to Massa (Ferrari), his world championship rival. It was very controversial & we (McLaren) appealed the decision at the FIA ICA in Paris," he wrote.

"We lost. At Spa, a watching Lauda, outspoken as ever, had said, 'This is the worst judgment in #F1 history, the most perverted judgment I’ve ever seen. It’s absolutely unacceptable when 3 functionaries [the FIA stewards] influence the championship like this,'" he added.

Lewis Hamilton reveals his goals from his new deal with Mercedes

The seven-time world champion recently said that his main goal of signing a two-year deal with the German team was to fight for the world championship once again.

Lewis Hamilton told Sky Sports:

"The goal within those two years is 100 percent to be fighting and win a world championship. We are second in the constructors' championship right now and we want to dethrone those who are at the top. I have 100 percent faith that we can do that. In terms of long-term, I'm thinking about my next contract - what that will look like, how long that will be. I plan to be here for a while."

The Brit continued:

"But it could change. I could come back next year and be like 'damn it'. Who knows? You never know where you are going to be in life but right now I'm very focused on staying positive every day. I know that's not easy for anyone."

It will be fascinating to see if Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes can get back to challenging for world championships by the end of his contract in 2025.