Hamilton penalised for Albon clash, Sainz gets podium

Lewis Hamilton has received a five-second time penalty for his clash with Alexander Albon in the closing stages of the Brazilian Grand Prix, dropping him from third to seventh in the final classification.

Hamilton was under investigation after tipping Albon into a spin when trying to pass on the penultimate lap of the race at Interlagos, causing the Red Bull driver to fall from second to 14th.

Hamilton held on to cross the line third, but was under investigation for the incident, with the stewards deeming after the race that Hamilton was to blame for the incident.

As a result, Hamilton has received a five-second time penalty, dropping him to seventh. He also receives two penalty points on his FIA Super License.

"Car 23 was on his normal race line. Car 44 attempted to pass on the inside, but was unable to get far enough inside to accomplish the overtake and by the time he realized there would not be sufficient room he was unable to back out of the situation and the collision followed," the stewards' bulletin reads.

"The Stewards determined that Car 44 predominantly at fault for the collision with Car 23 at Turn 10 and therefore ordered a five second penalty."

As a result, Carlos Sainz is provisionally promoted into third place for McLaren, marking the team's first podium finish since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. It is also Sainz's first podium in F1.

However, Sainz remains under investigation for using DRS under double waved yellow flags.

Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi rise to fourth and fifth respectively for Alfa Romeo, while Daniel Ricciardo moves up to sixth for Renault.