Lewis Hamilton got out of his car after finishing second in the Italian Grand Prix yesterday and admitted for the first time that he fears his attempt to win the World Championship in his rookie season could be wrecked by the Formula One spying scandal.

After completing a superb McLaren Mercedes one-two behind Fernando Alonso at Ferrari’s home track in Monza, Hamilton also spoke about how the machinations of the scandal are draining his enthusiasm for the sport he loves.

“If you sit down and think about it, I could have what I’ve worked for and what all the team have worked for . . . we could have it taken away from us,” Hamilton said immediately after the race. “And when you really think about that, you think, ‘Wow, I could be out of a job next weekend’ and then what happens? It was just going so well and then you just get this big knife that cuts off your blood-line.

“I never actually thought I’d be sitting here saying I hate something about Formula One, but the politics and people wanting to be bigger than others is just incredible.”

Hamilton’s outspoken comments came with his lead over Alonso having been reduced to three points and with McLaren facing a second hearing before the FIA, the governing body of motor sport, in Paris on Thursday.

At that hearing, the FIA will present new evidence - including e-mails sent between Alonso and Pedro De La Rosa, the McLaren test driver, earlier this year – which allegedly demonstrate that the team have used secret technical information stolen from Ferrari to help them to compete with their Italian rivals.

The FIA has made it clear that McLaren face expulsion not only from this year’s championship but also from next year’s if found guilty, which could have dire consequences not only for Hamilton, Alonso and their team but also for the sport itself.

The team are now also the subject of a criminal investigation in Italy in connection with the affair after papers were served on them by police in Monza on Saturday.

Hamilton’s comments followed a crushing performance by McLaren on the track in front of thousands of Ferrari devotees. While the orange-and-silver cars streaked away to McLaren’s first one-two at the Pista Magica, the tifosi saw Felipe Massa retire on lap ten, effectively ruling him out of the championship, and Kimi Raikkonen finish third after being overtaken by Hamilton in one of the moves of the season.

Although the Briton drove another excellent race to secure his eleventh podium finish in 13 races, this was very much Alonso’s day as the Spanish double world champion followed a dominant performance in qualifying with a flawless pole-to-flag display in the grand prix.

“A perfect weekend for me,” Alonso, who has been at the centre of the spying scandal after being forced by the FIA last week to hand over the e-mails, said. “Sometimes everything seems to go in the right direction and you feel good. In Monza I always had problems, so to win here for the first time is very special.”

With four races to go, the championship is beautifully balanced and looks increasingly to be a battle between Hamilton and Alonso, with the latter creeping ever closer to overhauling his British rival with each race. So long as the FIA does not intervene, it looks likely to go to the last race, in Brazil next month.

Despite the pressure of being hunted down by his teammate and bitter rival, Hamilton remains confident that he can become the first driver to win the championship in his rookie season. “I am not worried about it. I have been in many situations like this before and there are still four races to go and the fight it still on,” he said.

There was a welcome second championship point of a miserable season for Jenson Button, who was eighth in his Honda, while David Coulthard crashed out spectacularly after damaging the front wing on his Red Bull car on lap two. Anthony Davidson was fourteenth in the Super Aguri.