/world sport
(CNN) -- Lewis Hamilton gave evidence on Monday at the headquarters of Formula One in Paris in a hearing that could decide the fate of this year's world championship.
Hamilton was demoted from first place to third after the stewards' ruling.
Hamilton and his McLaren team are appealing the decision by Belgian Grand Prix stewards to strip him of his victory in Spa and relegate him to third place with a 25 second time penalty.
"I think it went well," McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh told the Associated Press after the daylong hearing.
"It's now up to the International Court of Appeal. But I think they're confident of our facts."
A decision was expected on Tuesday.
Hamilton was alleged to have gained an advantage by cutting the Bus Stop chicane during the race on September 7 when attempting to pass defending world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland.
Hamilton rejoined in the lead but immediately handed back the advantage to Raikkonen before overtaking him on the very next corner.
Shortly afterwards Raikkonen went off the track in his Ferrari and out of the race.
McLaren said they were told twice by the 'race control' officials that Hamilton's move was "okay".
Raikkonen's teammate Felipe Massa, who finished a distant second to Hamilton, was the chief beneficiary of the decision to demote the championship leader.
It moved him to within two points of the Briton, a gap he closed to just one point after the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
If the F1 hearing sides with Hamilton, the gap will be seven points with Hamilton given back four points and Massa losing two.
Many onlookers were certainly unimpressed by the stewards' ruling and Austria's three-time world champion Niki Lauda said the verdict was "the worst in the history of the sport".
But leading drivers such as former world champion Fernando Alonso have said the decision was correct, claiming Hamilton gained an advantage by slipstreaming Raikkonen into the next corner.
Hamilton, who left the hearing without comment to reporters, flies to Singapore on Tuesday ahead of F1's first-ever night race Sunday.
Three judges appointed to the International Court of Appeal will decide whether McLaren's appeal is justified.
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