'David cost me the race'- Hakkinen

Hakkinen was punted into a spin by his McLaren partner David Coulthard at the second corner on lap one.

'I was very upset. David cost me the race. If it had not been
for the
accident I would have been half-a-lap ahead of the field. I
had been
faster than everyone all weekend,' said Hakkinen.

'When you see your team-mate in your mirror you do not expect
him to go
into you.

'But I have accepted it was a mistake on David's part and I
will learn from it'

Team chief Ron Dennis said: 'It was David's mistake, but we are a
grand prix
team and we allow both our drivers to race. These things can
happen in
motor racing.'

Hakkinen looked like he could have still won the race until being badly blocked in the late stages.

'My steering was not straight after the impact and I was
worried that the wheel
would fall off but after a few laps I was back to maximum and
trying to
make something out of this disaster.'

It was not the first time that the pair had collided. At Estoril in 1996 it was Hakkinen who was at fault when they tangled while running 7th and 8th, but on this occasion the stakes were much higher. Back in 1996, their relationship was not always easy, but over the past two and a half seasons they had become one of the closest pairs of team mates in Formula One. It will be fascinating to see how this incident affects their partnership.