Stewards Warn Fisichella over Crash

Italian Giancarlo Fisichella was warned about his future conduct by race stewards after a shuddering collision with Australia's Mark Webber at Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix

Fisichella's Renault skidded into Webber as the Australian tried to overtake him and bounced across the front of the Williams, narrowly missing Webber's helmet.

Webber waved his arms furiously at Fisichella as he climbed out of his car but the Italian, winner of the season-opener in Melbourne, said he was not at fault for the shunt which came on the last corner of lap 37.

"I overtook him and braked a bit late," Fisichella told Reuters. "Just when I was at the entry of the corner I saw him come across on the outside. It was not my fault. As I was braking the rear of the car slid and Mark left no margin for error. It's just a different opinion, that's all. I think it's normal."

However, Webber saw the incident differently and accused Fisichella of dangerous driving.

"I respect Giancarlo a lot - he's a good driver and he doesn't do that every weekend," said a dejected Webber, who has now failed to finish in four attempts in Malaysia. "But if I wasn't there he'd have lost the car anyway. He was in the gravel. I did the hard work to get past him and should have been on my way. Then he came back with that."

Race stewards reviewed video evidence and heard from both drivers and their teams after the race. They decided to warn Fisichella but to take no further action. Webber's anger was compounded by the fact that Fisichella appeared to be struggling for control after losing a piece of his car's front bodywork.

"I think he lost the barge board," said the Australian. "His car was finished. It was a low percentage move considering he was in so much trouble. Giancarlo was in massive shit. I'm very disappointed. I passed him...and he tried to pass me again on the dirty side with absolutely no grip. He braked and surprise, surprise he lost control and we made contact."

Fisichella acknowledged he had lost a section of the bodywork that made grip difficult on the blazing hot Sepang circuit.

"I lost a barge board or a flap and I lost 20 percent of downforce and it was undriveable," said Fisichella. "It was just a racing accident."

Fisichella's Renault teammate Fernando Alonso won in Malaysia while Webber's partner Nick Heidfeld finished third for Williams.