Lauda pins Oz shunt on Barrichello

Lauda laid blame for the accident squarely at Rubens Barrichello's door. "The situation was very simple when you saw it from Ralf Schumacher's in-car camera," said the former triple world champion. "Barrichello moved right in front of him and braked, so Ralf couldn't do anything because he stayed on his line basically. It's like on the autobahn - if a car comes and drives in front of you and brakes, you hit him. That's basically what happened and so I think it was Barrichello's fault. He just moved across and stopped and nobody can react that quickly."

Barrichello, however, claimed that Ferrari telemetry proves that he braked later at the corner than team mate Michael Schumacher did last year.

On the subject of a possible penalty for the alleged trangression, Lauda said: "In the past, drivers have been penalised for this but in this case it hasn't happened. I don't know why."

Briatore added: "It's not right that eight cars are out because of the mistake of one or two drivers. In Australia the race was compromised and I believe that if someone makes a big mistake maybe they should start the next race from the back of the grid."

Nick Heidfeld, one of two Sauber drivers eliminated in the accident, said: "I think everyone is clear about it. You are allowed to change direction once and that's it. We have seen it (multiple changes of direction) before, last year, but not as extreme as in Australia. But where do you draw the line? I think it should be strictly applied - one change of direction only."