Fernando Alonso said little, but made clear he was upset by Sebastian Vettel's dangerous move that forced him off the track during Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver, who finished third behind Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren and Mexican Sergio Perez of Sauber, was asked about the defending champion's driving during a post-race news briefing and, at first, refused to answer.
His enigmatic smile was enough, then, however to confirm an impression that he agreed entirely with the stewards' decision to give the Red Bull man a drive-through penalty.
Asked again about the incident, however, and pressed to explain if it had cost him a chance to do better in the race, he said: “I lost 10 laps behind him, after the incident, and for sure the car was damaged because at 330km/h you are jumping on the gravel - so I don't think the floor and everything was fine after those jumps.”
He added: “I think that the people who are in charge of making the decisions took a careful view of everything. It is up to them to do their job.”
Vettel's wild driving came on a bad day for Red Bull as both drivers were forced to retire and the team finished pointless.
But for victorious Hamilton, Perez and Alonso, there was poetic justice in taking the podium places just a week after another erratic driver Romain Grosjean of Lotus had triggered an opening lap multiple collision at the Belgian Grand Prix.
That crash eliminated all three of the podium finishers in Monza before they could make any impact at Spa-Francorchamps. -Sapa-AFP