Felipe Massa has denied claims that the incident in which he collided with Lewis Hamilton, sending the Englishman's McLaren spinning and dropping to last place in today's Japanese GP, was deliberate.

The incident, which, combined with Hamilton's "mistake" at the first corner and subsequent drive-thru penalty, effectively ended the Englishman's race, resulted in the Brazilian also having to serve a penalty. However, while Hamilton never fully recovered, unable to add to his points tally, the Ferrari driver brought his car home in seventh to score one World Championship point. To add insult to injury, as far as many fans and the British media are concerned, Massa was promoted to seventh following an investigation into another controversial incident - this time involving Sebastien Bourdais.

"I have a good relationship with Lewis and would not do anything to destroy it on purpose," Massa told reporters at a post-race press conference. "Definitely not!"

Explaining the incident, he continued: "After turn 10 we both braked late and he pushed me a little. I had two wheels on the gravel because he pushed me. In my opinion it was just a racing accident. It was hard but fair. The drive-through really hurt my race."

Following comments made by Robert Kubica over the weekend, when the Pole suggested that Hamilton is prone to be over aggressive and bullies other drivers, Massa said of the first corner incident which saw the McLaren driver penalised: "Lewis had a bad start and lost position and he tried to brake when everybody was already turning into the corner. It was not right. Kimi passed him and then he pushed Kimi too wide. It was too optimistic, especially if you are thinking about the championship."

Referring to the fact that members of the Ferrari crew were seen 'celebrating' when Hamilton spun, the Brazilian said: "Any time you see a Ferrari in front of a McLaren it's a good thing for the team.

"You are trying to pour fire on the situation," he accused reporters. "I admire Lewis as a driver and a person and I'm sure he admires me as well. I have no problem saying hello to him, or discussing stuff or having fun. I won't change my approach."

While Hamilton refused to say whether he "admired" Massa, he did admit that the first corner incident with Raikkonen was a "mistake".