Hamilton adamant Maldonado collision was no racing incident

Hamilton and Maldonado made contact at the Bus Stop chicane while the McLaren driver was completing a flying lap, and the pair then collided again after exiting La Source with Maldonado moving across on the 2008 world champion and pushing him off the circuit.

After Maldonado was given a five-place grid penalty for 'causing an avoidable incident,' Hamilton said: "It was not a racing incident.

"I thought through the last corner that I had to get past the guys and we perhaps touched a little bit, I don't know. I perhaps thought that he was upset about that or not, or wanted to make a point to me. I really don't know.

"I haven't spoken to him so I don't know from his point of view what happened, but it is clear from the footage that we are going down a straight which curves to the right and he is far on the right and I am far on the left and I cannot go any more to the left, and somehow the car ends up hitting me right in front, so it is up to everyone else to come up with their own opinions about it, but I didn't drive into anyone."

Hamilton, who received a reprimand for his part in the incident, said that there had been no truth in suggestions that he had caused Maldonado to retaliate against him after appearing to jink slightly to the right immediately before the Williams driver came across on him.

He added: "I think at the time it had begun to rain a little bit more towards the end of the session and I had gone around that, had some water on my tyres and had a little bit of wheelspin, but I think I was just continuing my line, went a bit right then saw that he had come out so I moved back.

"Then he was in the blind spot for me, I continued driving straight and thought he was coming past, and then somehow he ended up right alongside me, I was lucky that his rear wheel did not hit my front wheel and I didn't get any more damage."

Maldonado's penalty dropped him from 16th to 21st on the grid.