Mercedes' Nico Rosberg remained tight-lipped when Eddie Jordan asked him about the second-lap accident with teammate Lewis Hamilton during the podium ceremony, but the German changed his stance as soon as he entered the the team meeting.
Rosberg in the podium interview said that he "needs to look at it [the incident] on TV" before making any comments and he maintained that in the press conference as well. Hamilton, however, has come out with a shocking revelation that Rosberg hit him intentionally.
The Brit suffered a left-rear puncture and was later forced to retire, while Rosberg finished second behind Daniel Ricciardo. Hamilton revealed that in the team meeting Rosberg admitted of hitting him on purpose "to prove a point".
"We just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose," said Hamilton. "He said he could have avoided it. He said 'I did it to prove a point'. He basically said I did it to prove a point.
"And you don't have to just rely on me. Go and ask Toto [Wolff] and Paddy [Lowe] who are not happy with him as well.
"I was gobsmacked when I was listening to the meeting. You need to ask him what point he was trying to make because he just came in there and said it was all my fault."
Meanwhile, Mercedes have said that Rosberg's comments were misinterpreted and he did not hit Hamilton on purpose. The Silver Arrows boss Toto Wolff explained that Hamilton's version is inaccurate and the contact was not deliberate.
If Hamilton's version of the story turns out to be true, the German will face FIA sanctions. Wolff, however, added that Rosberg admitted to not backing out at Les Combes, when the two went wheel-to-wheel in the second lap, which resulted in a collision.
"Nico felt he needed to hold his line. He needed to make a point, and for Lewis, it was clearly not him who needed to be aware of Nico," Wolff said. "[Rosberg] didn't give in. He thought it was for Lewis to leave him space, and that Lewis didn't leave him space.
"So they agreed to disagree in a very heated discussion amongst ourselves, but it wasn't deliberately crashing. That is nonsense."
The accident left Mercedes fumingm though, and their non-executive chairman Niki Lauda openly blamed Rosberg for causing the collision. "Lewis was clear in the lead, there's no question about it," Lauda said. "Nico was behind. Why in the second lap? Someone has to explain to me."
Wolff, however, did not give blunt comments like Lauda but certainly issued a clear warning that the team will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in the future.
"It has been our clear policy to let the drivers race this year but rule number one is: don't hit each other," Wolff warned. "To see that kind of contact, so early in the race, is an unacceptable level of risk to be taking out on track. It cannot, and will not, happen again."
