Lewis Hamilton held firm his belief that it was Max Verstappen’s over-aggression that led to their British Grand Prix clash.
The two championship contenders collided entering Copse corner on the opening lap as the Briton went for a move down the inside into the 180mph turn.
Verstappen would suffer a 51G impact with the tyre barrier as a result, earning him a trip to the hospital for thorough checks before later being released.
Meanwhile, Hamilton, who was given a 10-second penalty, was able to recover and would pass Charles Leclerc in the closing laps for his eighth home win.
“What a roller-coaster ride of emotions,” he told Sky Sports post-race. “A lot of anger after the shunt with Max and I just had to bury it and progress forward.
“I just don’t feel he needs to be as aggressive as he is. On Lap 1, we’re going down to Turn 6 and he’s bumping wheels with me. I tried to give him space but I was quite a long way up the inside into Turn 9, none of us backed out and that was the end result.
“I took the penalty of course and it’s never one person’s fault, it’s always a balance of the two.”
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Red Bull was understandably furious, with Christian Horner claiming it was a “hollow win” while Verstappen later accused Hamilton of unsportsmanlike behaviour with his celebrations while he was in hospital.
However, asked if the incident took any shine of his first win since Spain, Hamilton was clear.
“Honestly, no, it doesn’t,” he stated. “This is racing and of course, I would love to be able to race and leave one another space, and there is plenty of space on the track for us to get around.
“I managed for a long time to get around without colliding with someone, but when someone is just too aggressive these things are bound to happen.
“There’s not a single driver here who doesn’t know how aggressive a driver he can be,” Lewis added.
“There’s not really much more for me to say – I hope he’s okay because I would love to have a wheel-to-wheel battle for a whole race.
“I enjoy racing with him and I’m looking forward. I would never back down from anyone and naturally not be bullied into being less aggressive.
“I think this weekend we needed the points, there was a gap, he left a gap and I went for it.”