Nico Rosberg says he was "surprised" when Rubens Barrichello crashed into him in Melbourne, although the Williams' man says Rosberg "braked early."
The duo came together on lap 24 of the grand prix when Barrichello, in what was described as a "desperate" move by BBC pundit David Coulthard, launched up the inside of Rosberg's Mercedes GP.
However, as the German was turning into the corner at the time, their cars colliding, putting Rosberg out of the grand prix.
"That was a disappointing first weekend of the season," said the German. "It was a tough race until my retirement with the cars behind me pushing hard.
"I saw Rubens in my mirror and he was quite far away so I was surprised that he hit me. I immediately thought that was it and I had to pull over to stop the car.
"It's very sad for the team as they have worked so hard this weekend and throughout the winter."
But while Rosberg says he was 'surprised' by Barrichello, the Brazilian was surprised as well, after all, he says, the Merc driver braked early.
"It was a tough race for us. I was pushed out a little bit at the start, but then I had a good rhythm going and was doing quite a lot of overtaking until the incident with Rosberg," said the Williams' driver.
"I wasn't planning on overtaking him at that point, I was defending from Kobayashi. I think we have one tyre with grip and one with less and so we have different braking points.
"Rosberg braked earlier, and was already in the middle of the corner before I could stop the car."
Barrichello was handed a drive-through for the accident and later retired from the grand prix.
