London: Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton retained his 65-point lead and Williams kept their sole point of the season on Tuesday when a court rejected an Alfa Romeo appeal against penalties issued after the German Grand Prix in July.

The 30-second post-race penalties dropped Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi out of the points and lifted Mercedes’ five-time world champion Hamilton up to ninth in the July 28 race with Williams’ Robert Kubica 10th.

A spokesman for the governing body FIA said the International Court of Appeal in Paris had found the protest was not admissible.