Until the aftermath of the Spanish Grand Prix yesterday, the Formula One season had been almost entirely free of postrace swinging handbags among the top drivers.

This changed abruptly at the Circuit de Catalunya when Fernando Alonso, looking stony-faced after being shown the way round in his home grand prix by both Felipe Massa, of Ferrari, and Lewis Hamilton, his teammate at McLaren Mercedes, accused Massa of not giving way at the first corner.

It was a critical incident for Alonso because it relegated him from second on the grid to fourth within the first 500 metres of the race and ruined his chances of winning. His view was that he had got around the outside of Massa’s Ferrari as the drivers tackled the first corner, was ahead and should have got through.

Instead, an increasingly confident Massa held his ground and the cars touched, causing damage to Alonso’s right-hand bargeboard. In the McLaren pit, Ron Dennis, the team principal, watched open-mouthed as the world champion’s steering wheel spun in his hand and he was left to take a messy detour into the gravel.

Recalling the incident afterwards, the Spaniard said that he got a nice tow in the Brazilian’s slipstream going down the long pit straight from the start as they charged towards the sharp right-hand bend at the end. “I put myself behind and, thanks to the slipstream, I was a little bit quicker. I went around the outside and braked a bit later,” Alonso said.

“I think I was well in front of him, but unfortunately he didn’t think so and we touched.

We were lucky to finish the race because in 99 per cent of incidents like this, both cars go out at the first corner. It is dangerous, these type of things. The car was damaged and unfortunately it was more difficult to drive.”

Replays were inconclusive at best. Alonso may have been ahead, but he was pushing his luck and Massa looked to have been well within his rights to hold the inside line. At the time, Alonso’s move in front of thousands of his adoring fans looked desperate. It was a clear sign that, knowing the Ferraris still have a performance edge over McLaren, he had come to the conclusion that the only way he could win his home race for a second successive year was if he got past Massa at the first turn.

The mild-mannered Brazilian was unapologetic about the way he handled an incident that will have done his reputation among his rivals no harm. Massa had shown that he can fight and he is not going to be a pushover. “For sure, if I am wrong, I am the first to say I made a mistake,” he said while sitting next to Alonso, who seemed increasingly uncomfortable about pressing his case in public. “But this time I didn’t make a mistake.”

Massa said that he was determined not to give ground and in his mind had been his disastrous start to the Malaysian Grand Prix five weeks ago, when, starting from pole, he left the inside line wide open at the first turn, which had allowed both Alonso and Hamilton through. “I was inside and I just wanted to stay there.” Massa said.

Alonso was lucky not to lose more places as he toured off the track before rejoining in fourth place behind Kimi Raikkonen, Massa’s Ferrari partner, whose later retirement allowed the Spaniard to move up to third by the finish. “No doubt I’m very disappointed with the race itself,” Alonso said. “If Kimi hadn’t retired, probably I would be out of the podium and, starting second, that was not the aim of the race.”

Dented ambitions

— The most celebrated first-corner crash was deliberate and tainted the legend of Ayrton Senna. In the penultimate race of the season at Suzuka in 1990, Senna barged Alain Prost off the track to ensure that he won the title. “He is a man without value,” Prost said.

— In July 2000 at the A1 ring, Michael Schumacher, the drivers’ championship leader, was knocked off the track before getting through the first corner by Mika Hakkinen, the defending champion, who went on to win.

— In the same season, Schumacher made the perfect start to claim his fifth world title after a huge first-corner accident eliminated eight cars including Rubens Barrichello, who had qualified on pole.

— Last year, Jenson Button was hopeful of claiming his first grand-prix win in Australia, but a first-corner crash dented his chances as three cars went out and the safety car was called.

Result

(65 laps): 1, F Massa (Br, Ferrari) 1hr 31min 36.230sec; 2, L Hamilton (GB, McLaren Mercedes) 1:31:43.020; 3, F Alonso (Sp, McLaren Mercedes) 1:31:53.686; 4, R Kubica (Pol, BMW Sauber) 1:32:07.845; 5, D Coulthard (GB, Red Bull-Renault) 1:32:34.561; 6, N Rosberg (Ger, Williams-Toyota) 1:32:35.768; 7, H Kovalainen (Fin, Renault) 1:32:38.358; 8, T Sato (Japan, Super Aguri-Honda) at 1 lap behind; 9, G Fisichella (It Renault) 1 lap; 10, R Barrichello (Br, Honda) 1 lap; 11, A Davidson (GB, Super Aguri-Honda) 1 lap; 12, J Button (GB, Honda) 1 lap; 13, A Sutil (Ger, Spyker-Ferrari) 2 laps; 14, C Albers (Neth, Spyker-Ferrari) 2 laps.

Not classified: 15, N Heidfeld (Ger, BMW Sauber) 50 laps completed; 16, R Schumacher (Ger, Toyota) 48 laps; 17, V Liuzzi (It, Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 18 laps; 18, S Speed (US, Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 11 laps; 19, K Raikkonen (Fin, Ferrari) 10 laps; 20, J Trulli (It, Toyota) 9 laps; 21, M Webber (Aus, Red Bull-Renault) 8 laps; 22, A Wurz (Austria, Williams-Toyota) no laps.

Qualifying positions: 1, Massa 1:21.421; 2, Alonso 1:21.451; 3, Raikkonen 1:21.723; 4, Hamilton 1:21.785; 5, Kubica 1:22.253; 6, Trulli 1:22.324; 7, Heidfeld 1:22.389; 8, Kovalainen 1:22.568; 9, Coulthard 1:22.749; 10, Fisichella 1:22.881.

Eliminated after second 15min session: 11, Rosberg 1:21.968; 12, Barrichello 1:22.097; 13, Sato 1:22.115; 14, Button 1:22.120; 15, Davidson 1:22.295; 16, Liuzzi 1:22.508.

Eliminated after first 15min session: 17, Schumacher 1:22.666; 18, Wurz 1:22.769; 19, Webber 1:23.398; 20, Sutil 1:23.811; 21, Albers 1:23.990; 22, Speed no time.

World Championship positions

Drivers: 1, Hamilton 30pts; 2, Alonso 28; 3, Massa 27; 4, Raikkonen 22; 5, Heidfeld 15; equal 6, Kubica and Fisichella 8; 8, Rosberg 5; equal 9, Coulthard and Trulli 4; 11, Kovalainen 3; equal 12, Sato and Schumacher 1.

Constructors: 1, McLaren Mercedes 58; 2, Ferrari 49; 3, BMW Sauber 23; 4, Renault 11; equal 5, Toyota and Williams-Toyota 5; 7, Red Bull-Renault 4; 8, Super Aguri-Honda 1.

Next race: May 27: Monaco GP (Monte Carlo)