Lewis Hamilton's championship hopes have been dealt a huge blow after he was thrown to the back of the grid for the sprint race at Formula 1's Brazilian Grand Prix

Stewards ruled that the Mercedes fell foul of the technical regulations and his pole lap was chalked off.

Hamilton's punishment promotes his rival Max Verstappen to the front of the grid.

But Verstappen has also been penalised - copping a hefty fine after touching the rear wing of Hamilton's Mercedes following qualifying.

The Dutch 24-year-old, who leads seven times world champion Hamilton by 19 points with four races left, qualified second for Saturday's 100km sprint race that determines the starting grid for Sunday's grand Prix at Brazil's Interlagos.

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