Lewis Hamilton has 💞lashed out at Formula 1 World Championship title rival Felipe Massa for what ꦐhe claims was a 'deliberate' effort to take him out of the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway when the Brazilian drove into him on Sunday.

The second lap🐼 incident occurred as both drivers were attempting to regain ground following Hamilton's calamitous first corner late-braking that had sent the field scattering, and it resulted after the Briton dived up the inside of th💫e Ferrari, which had run wide into turn ten. As Massa rejoined the track, he did so by driving across the grass - and into the McLaren-Mercedes, which he sent spinning down to the bottom of the order.

"I took the corner normally and Felipe came back very aggressively and hit me," Hamilton is quoted as having said by Pitpass. "I think that was pretty m🗹uch as deliberate as can bꦜe."

Unsurprisingly, such a suggestion received short shrift from Massa who - like Hamilton for his first corner indiscretion - would go on to receive a drive-through penalty for the incident, which the Brazilian contended 'really hurt my race', even though it wa💦s Hamilton who ultimately ended up leaving Fuji point-less.

"Definitely not!" the Ferrari ace retortedꦉ when asked if he had deliber🧸ately tried to end Hamilton's race. "I have a good relationship with Lewis and would not do anything to destroy it on purpose.

"After turn ten we both braked late and he pushed me a little. I had two wheels on the gravel because he pushed me🍌. In my opinion it was just a racing accident; it was hard but fair."

As to Hamilton's first corner error - which compromised both Ferrari drivers, as well as a number of other competitors - Massa was unequivocal, even if he did not go as far as to echo Robert Kubica's pre-race assertion that the Stevenage-born ace is sometimes 'too aggressive', 'too much' and 'dangerous' on-track [see separate story - 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:click here].

"Lewis hไad a bad start and lost position," the S?o Paulista contended, "and he tried to brake when everꦿybody was already turning into the corner. It was not right.

"Kimi passed him and then he pushed Kimi ♛too wide. It was too optimistic, especially if you are thinking about the championship."

Massa also reacted angrily to reporters who asked him ﷺwhy Ferrari members had been seen cheering when Hamilton spun, exp𝐆laining that 'any time you see a Ferrari in front of a McLaren it's a good thing for the team'.

"You are trying to pour fire on the situation," the 27-year-old argued. "I admire Lewis as a driver and a person and I'm sure he admires me as well. I have no problem saying hello to him or discussing stuff or having fun. I won't change m🦋y approach."

Whilst Hamilton held his hand up to his 'mistake' at the start of the grand prix [see separate story - 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:click here], his McLaren-Mercedes team principal Ron Dennis insisted that such incidents are all part-and-parcel of the sport, even if his young charge had insisted pre-weekend that he would henceforth not be taking any undue risks, particularly given how an over-zealous approach to winnin𒈔g no matter what had arguably cost him the 2🦩007 F1 crown.

"Any experienced motor racing person sees it as a racing incident," Dennis said, after seeing his team go home empty-handed for only the second time this season. "First corner incidents like that are absolutely commonplace in grand prix racing. Everybody is on tyres that haven't got up𝐆 to full operating temperature at that point, and if people leave their braking late, that's what happens."

As to 𒈔the collision with Massa, Dennis preferred to remain d꧋iplomatic, but he did surreptitiously seem to hint that - in-line with paddock consensus that all teams are equal but Ferrari is more equal than the rest - McLaren is facing 'an uphill struggle' in its bid to claim title glory.

"It's all the benefit of hindsight," the 61-year-old stated. "Yes, he (Hamilton) c🌃ould have been a bit more mindful of the situation, but I'm sure he was pretty frustrated with himself for screwing up the first corner. Of course it would have been nice if he had been a little bit more prudent in the first corner.

"I think the thing that really got to him was the penalty, it really did.𒁏 He was bitterly complaining about it in the car. Without t🐲he penalty we would have still got points, that's for sure.

"Lewis is a racing driver - that's what makes him the driver heౠ is. He is going to fight for positions at every opportunity. You are not going to stop him doing tဣhat.

"Some of the things he does leave us in awe of him. The simple fact is he is a great driver and we 🔯are going to fiဣght for the world championship, but it's sometimes a bit of an uphill struggle."