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Formula One

Hamilton points finger at Massa over Japan crash

13/10/2008

Lewis Hamilton has blamed Felipe Massa for his Japanese grand prix nightmare by deliberately colliding with him on lap two.

The Brazilian crashed into his British rival when the McLaren driver tried to overtake him on turn 11 at the Fuji circuit.

Ferrari's Massa struck Hamilton when he rejoined the track having been forced off by Hamilton at the chicane's left-hand side.

Hamilton failed to recover from the incident as he wasted a pole position start to finish in 12th place, allowing Massa to cut the gap in the championship standings to five points.

After the race, Hamilton blamed Massa over the incident.

"He outbraked me, so I didn't get past him on the way in," the 23-year-old said.

"I did the corner normally, and he came back very aggressively and hit me. I think that was pretty much as deliberate as can be."

Massa, who was handed a driver-through penalty for the crash, strongly denied the claims.

"In my opinion it was a racing incident and we both paid a penalty," he said.

"For me, he braked too late and pushed me out of the track. I couldn't stop the car as I was in the gravel and I was in the gravel because he pushed me.

"I have a good relationship with Lewis and would not do anything to destroy something on purpose... definitely not."