After a combative drive to seventh place during a wet Italian Grand Prix in Monza on Sunday that has left Lewis Hamilton leading the Formula One World Championship by only one point, the British driver's next date with destiny is on Monday in Paris, where he will try to have his race win at the Belgian Grand Prix nine days ago restored.

Hamilton will attend the hearing of the FIA Court of Appeal, a sign of how seriously McLaren Mercedes, his team, are taking their attempt to convince the governing body that his manoeuvre against Kimi Raikkonen, of Ferrari, near the end of the race in Spa-Francorchamps was legitimate.

The stewards in Spa demoted Hamilton to third after giving him a retrospective “drive-through” penalty for gaining an advantage when he got ahead of Raikkonen by cutting the chicane before, in his view, doing enough to give the position back.

The stewards' decision has provoked anger among Hamilton's supporters, many of whom believe that the FIA is biased against their man and McLaren and favours Ferrari. Hamilton has been playing down his chances in Paris and claims that he is focusing on the four grands prix left, starting with Formula One's first night race in Singapore on Sunday week.

“I feel like I won the race in Spa and I am just not bothering to think about it,” Hamilton said. “Whatever the result in Paris, I'm going to move on. I'm going to focus on getting more points in the next races and just continue to prove that there's nothing that can put me off or bring me down.”

A successful result in Paris, though, could have a dramatic effect on his title chances as he battles Felipe Massa, of Ferrari, to the wire. If the court reinstates Hamilton, his lead over Massa will jump to seven points.

However, there are questions over the admissibility of McLaren's appeal and the court could reject the team's arguments or throw out the case. Yet one straw in the wind were remarks last week by Max Mosley, the FIA president, who said that Charlie Whiting, the race director in Spa, had been wrong to indicate to McLaren twice before the race ended that Hamilton had done enough to give back the position he had taken from Raikkonen.