Fernando Alonso cut a calmer figure after the Belgian Grand Prix than he did immediately after his first lap incident with Sir Lewis Hamilton.
Alonso had started the race third, one position ahead of Hamilton after both of them took advantage of grid penalties at Spa, and Hamilton managed to clear his former McLaren team-mate off the start.
The Spaniard was back down the inside going into Le Combes at the end of the Kemmel Straight, but the Mercedes moved across having not seen Alonso in his wing mirror.
The resulting contact sent Hamilton up into the air, and he was perhaps fortunate not to end up upside down as his car landed heavily.
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The seven-time world champion was forced to retire from the race as a result, while Alonso went on to beat Charles Leclerc to fifth.
Before the double world champion’s solid result though, he had some stinging remarks to get off his chest about Hamilton over the radio.
“Yeah, what an idiot,” commented Alonso.
“Closing the door from the outside. I mean, we had a mega start but this guy only knows how to drive and start in first.”
Hamilton held his hands up when he returned to the media pen after the race, and he accepted that the incident was his fault, offering his apologies to his team.
“It was definitely my fault today,” he said, quoted by the Race.
“Unfortunate, it’s motor racing, I gave it everything.
“I tried to overtake on the outside of Turn 5, just didn’t leave quite enough space.
“It wasn’t intentional, it just happened.”
Having been facing the asphalt at one stage after his car had been launched up into the air, the 37-year-old was aware that there would be substantial damage to his car.
“I remember just looking at the ground so I knew I was quite high,” explained Hamilton.
“I could hear something broken in the gearbox, so that coming down, would have broken so much in the back end and was told to stop.
“In that moment you’re hopeful you can keep going, but it was not meant to be.”
As for Alonso’s spicy radio message, Hamilton understands that racing brings out some high emotions.
“I don’t really have a response to it, I know how things feel in the heat of the moment,” he affirmed.
“It’s nice to know how he feels about me! It’s better it’s out in the open how he feels.
“It wasn’t intentional, I take responsibility for it, it’s what adults do.”
The 103-time race winner had considered going and speaking with Alonso after the accident, but he will leave that for another day after hearing what his old rival had to say about him.
“No, I would have [spoken to him] until I heard what he said,” added Hamilton.
Alonso had composed himself by the time he returned to the paddock for his interviews, and he chalked the crash down to a first lap racing incident.
“It was a first lap incident, these things happen especially in that corner,” he explained.
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“There are a lot of things that are going on and people normally cut the corner in Turn 6 and re-join the track in Turn 7.
“It’s a tricky part of the circuit, it was a racing incident, nothing [else] to say.”
Hamilton’s non-finish in Belgium was his first of the season, while Alonso picked up his 10th points finish of the year.