Niki Lauda blamed Lewis Hamilton for his "unacceptable" collision with Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in Spain, saying the world champion was too aggressive.
After being beaten into Turn 1 by Rosberg, Hamilton sized up his teammate a few corners later and moved to the right on the approach to Turn 4. At the same moment Rosberg moved into the middle of the road to cover off the world champion, forcing him onto the grass, where he lost control of the car before wiping out the other Mercedes.
The crash squandered what had looked to be a likely one-two finish for Mercedes and immediately after the crash non-executive chairman Lauda was in no doubts who was to blame.
"Completely unnecessary I would say and for me the disaster is that both Mercedes are out, after two corners its unacceptable," Lauda told Sky Sports. "Lewis was too aggressive to pass him and why should Nico give him room, he's in the lead. Its very simple for me. So it was a miscalculation in Lewis' head, I blame him more than Nico but for the team and for Mercedes it's unacceptable."
The incident inevitably drew comparisons with the pair's collision at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. On that occasion Rosberg gave Hamilton a puncture when trying to pass for the lead, with Lauda on that occasion laying the blame squarely at the German's feet.
Rosberg was internally reprimanded by Mercedes afterwards and the team has made it clear it would not tolerate crashes in future between them.
"Yeah sure but there is always pressure and since Spa two years ago thank god nothing happened, so why here? They have to explain to me."
Lauda was later seen going into the Mercedes motorhome after both drivers, technical chief Paddy Lowe and boss Paddy Lowe.
When asked if the incident had simply handed a certain win to Red Bull or Mercedes, Lauda replied: "Yes after 30 seconds. Very clever."