Lewis Hamilton accused Ferrari of dirty tactics following Sebastian Vettel’s dramatic victory at the British Grand Prix.

Hamilton, roared on by a record-breaking 140,500-strong crowd, fought his way back from last place to second after Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen collided with his Mercedes on the opening lap.

Hamilton afforded Raikkonen space at the right-handed third turn, but the Finn locked up, before his left-front tyre thudded into the right-rear of Hamilton’s Mercedes. The Englishman was sent into a spin, and he re-joined the track at the back of the pack.

The stewards had no trouble in declaring Raikkonen as the guilty party. He was slapped with a 10-second penalty and two points on his drivers’ licence.

After Vettel’s collision with Valtteri Bottas in France, Sunday’s coming together at Silverstone marked the second time in just three races that a Ferrari car has hit a Mercedes.

And, despite his breathless comeback, Hamilton was visibly furious with Raikkonen’s behaviour.

First, the Englishman broke protocol by refusing to be interviewed after the race and headed straight for the podium green room. Then, when on the rostrum, he avoided eye contact with Vettel and Raikkonen, who ultimately crossed the line in third.

“Interesting tactics from their side,” Hamilton said on the podium. “We will do all we can to fight them in the next races.”

Minutes later, the top three arrived for a tense post-race press conference. Hamilton’s voice crackled as he dissected his comeback drive.

A lot was made of Hamilton missing the post-race interview, something that is usually a mandatory for all drivers following a race.

However, it has now emerged that he missed the interview due to exhaustion.

Hamilton has said: "I lost nearly three kilograms to get back to the top today for you and my team. I barely had any energy at the end to stand let alone talk.

"If you can't understand and appreciate that then I fully understand. However it was nothing to do with anger, literally just exhausted both physically and emotionally.

"Thanks to everyone for the incredible support this weekend, we win and lose together! Onwards and upwards."