The spat without an end

Crossing paths

On Sunday at the Buddh International Circuit, the same scenario played out, and quite expectedly, they ran into each other. On turn five of lap 24, Hamilton flew down the straight to take the inside line while Massa, who went a little wide, tried to close the gap, but it was too late. Hamilton's front end caught the back of Massa to trigger a grimace from British celebrity Rowan Atkinson in the McLaren pit garage.

More often than not, it has been repeat offender Hamilton -- handed a three-place penalty for ignoring the yellow flag during free practice on Friday -- who has been at fault. This time around, the FIA Stewards penalised Massa for the move with a drive-through stricture. The temperamental has run into each other six this this season.

After crashing into each other twice in the Singapore Grand Prix, Massa blasted Hamilton and accused him of 'not using his mind'.

“There is not much to say at the end of this weekend,” Massa said during a tense press conference. “I am really unhappy that I was not able to finish the race in which I showed that I had the pace to fight for the podium. As for the collision with Hamilton, I can only say I do not share the opinion of the Stewards who inflicted the punishment on me.”

Giving his take on the incident, Massa said: “I simply stayed on the ideal line, braking on the limit and staying on the part of the track that was rubbered in. What else could I do? It's the umpteenth time Hamilton has run into me this year, and it seems like it's some sort of fatal attraction...”