Hamilton failed to return to parc ferme after qualifying when he stopped out on track with an undisclosed problem.
And although McLaren initially stated that everything would be okay, they were soon a very worried team after Hamilton was called into the stewards' office.
Under F1 regulations, drivers must return to parc ferme under their own power with a minimum of one-litre of fuel on board.
It is not acceptable for them to stop to save petrol for the sample as that would give them a competitive advantage, permitting them to run with less fuel, and hence less weight, in qualifying.
However, after qualifying it was found that Hamilton's car had ony 1.3 litres, which would not have been enough for him to return to the pits and give fuel for the test.
McLaren blamed the shortage on a fuel-rig fault, however, the stewards felt it was not a good enough excuse.
As a result, they have sent Hamilton to the back of the grid.
"The stewards received a report from the Race Director which stated that during post-qualifying scrutineering a sample of fuel was required from car 4, however, the car failed to return to the pits under its own power as required under Article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations," said the stewards in a statement.
"The Stewards heard from the team representative Mr Sam Michael who stated that the car stopped on the circuit for reasons of force majeure. A team member had put an insufficient quantity of fuel into the car thereby resulting in the car having to be stopped on the circuit in order to be able to provide the required amount for sampling purposes.
"As the amount of fuel put into the car is under the complete control of the Competitor the Stewards cannot accept this as a case of force majeure.
"The Stewards determine that this is a breach of Article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations and the Competitor is accordingly excluded from the results of the Qualifying Session. The Competitor is however allowed to start the race from the back of the grid."
Pastor Maldonado will therefore start the race from pole position with Fernando Alonso on the front row.
Starting grid
1. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Williams-Renault Q3: 1:22.285s
2. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari Q3: 1:22.302s
3. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault Q3: 1:22.424s
4. Kimi Räikkönen Finland Lotus-Renault Q3: 1:22.487s
5. Sergio Perez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari Q3: 1:22.533s
6. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes Q3: 1:23.005s
7. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault Q3: No time
8. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes Q3 No time
9. Kamui Kobayashi Japan Sauber-Ferrari Q3: No time
10. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes Q2: 1:22.944s
11. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault Q2: 1:22.977s
12. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes Q2: 1:23.125s
13. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Force India-Mercedes Q2: 1:23.177s
14. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Ferrari Q2: 1:23.265s
15. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Toro Rosso-Ferrari Q2: 1:23.442s
16. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari Q2: 1:23.444s
17. Bruno Senna Brazil Williams-Renault Q1: 1:24.981s
18. Vitaly Petrov Russia Caterham-Renault Q1: 1:25.277s
19. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Caterham-Renault Q1: 1:25.507s
20. Charles Pic France Marussia -Cosworth Q1: 1:26.582s
21. Timo Glock Germany Marussia -Cosworth Q1: 1:27.032s
22. Pedro de la Rosa Spain HRT-Cosworth Q1: 1:27.555s
23. Narain Karthikeyan India HRT-Cosworth Q1: 1:31.122s *
24. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes Times deleted **
Source: Planet-F1
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