The Formula One star Lewis Hamilton has had his driving licence suspended by the French authorities after being caught driving at almost 200kph on a motorway.

The 22-year-old McLaren driver was picked up by a speed gun doing 196kph (122mph) in a Mercedes CLK near the northern French town of Laon at around 4pm on Sunday.

He was stopped by police, who detained his car, fined him €600 (£430) and banned him from driving for one month. He was ordered to appear before a court in Laon next month.

A French police spokesman, Arnaud Dujardin, said: “He no longer has a permit on national territory. He cannot drive in France.”

He added that Hamilton had been "very polite and co-operative" and said the police did not realise who he was until they saw his identification papers.

"They did not know it was him," he said. "All they saw was a car going too fast."

The police gave Hamilton a lift to his hotel in their police car and the Mercedes was collected by a friend yesterday.

Hamilton, the first black or mixed-race driver to compete in Formula One, was signed to the McLaren team's young driver programme when he was 13 years old.

He ended his rookie season in the 2007 world championships in second place, making him the most successful Formula One rookie in history.

A spokesman for Hamilton's McLaren Formula One team said: "McLaren were made aware that Lewis was stopped for speeding in France whilst driving in a private capacity.

"We understand he has received a mandatory fine and suspension from driving in France for one month."

The spokesman said that the incident would not affect Hamilton’s professional driving career.

source: TimesOnline