In the same news conference at Fuji, his enduring hostility towards McLaren and Hamilton was evident when the top three drivers were asked whether it was right for the Briton to have been handed a drive-through penalty for his start.

"I agree," Alonso said immediately, while Kubica and Raikkonen both said they did not have a clear enough picture to comment.

"I don't know what he did," the race winner told reporters later. "But it's good he's punished anyway."

Hamilton meanwhile raised the stakes by dropping his initial diplomacy and accusing Massa of foul play.

"I did the corner normally, and he came back very aggressively and hit me," Hamilton said. "That was pretty much as deliberate as can be."

Massa denied Hamilton's accusation.

"I did not hit him deliberately," Massa said. "I can't believe he sees it that way."

Massa was eighth across the finish line but was promoted to seventh by a contentious post-race stewards' decision to dock initial sixth-place finisher Sebastien Bourdais 25 seconds for a 50th lap collision between the Toro Rosso driver and Massa.

Bourdais also accused the Ferrari driver of careless driving.

"I did everything I could not to run into him," complained Bourdais. "He just squeezed and turned and behaved like I didn't exist, like I wasn't there."

Bourdais was furious that race stewards blamed him instead of Massa.

"For me it's very clear. Yes, I exit the pits, yes I'm supposed to be careful and I was. I stayed inside and I didn't push him out, I didn't overshoot the corner.

"It's just a little bit of respect. You give each other room and then everything goes right but if you don't, there's going to be an incident."

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily October 14, 2008)