Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton have given their sides of the story after they clashed during the Belgian GP Sprint.

The Red Bull and Mercedes drivers were battling for points towards the end of the Spa Sprint when they came together, as Perez ran wide and Hamilton looked to sneak past in the Merc.

They touched, and Perez sustained damage which, not so long later, meant that he would have to retire the car and score no points.

For Hamilton's part in the collision, the race stewards opted to give him a five-second time penalty, which shunted him down the order to seventh at the chequered flag, though Lewis was of the opinion it was a racing incident - something his Mercedes colleagues Toto Wolff and Andrew Shovlin agreed with:

"The conditions were very tricky out there and we're all trying our best," said Hamilton.

"I think the contact with Perez was a racing incident. He went wide and was slow through turn 14 and I got a great exit - I was more than half-a-car alongside him and we ended up just coming together. Naturally it wasn't intentional, but I got a penalty for it. Ultimately, it doesn't make a huge difference. The difference between fourth and seventh in a Sprint where you don't get a lot of points means it's not punishing."

Wolff added meanwhile:

"The contact between Lewis and Perez I saw as a racing incident more than penalty worthy. They were side-by-side and we want to see people racing. Nevertheless, that was the decision, and we now move on to the Grand Prix tomorrow. If we take similar pace into the race, we will be in a good position to fight for a decent result."

Whilst Shovlin said:

"Both drivers [George Russell and Lewis Hamilton] drove a good race today. We'd have liked a few more laps to attack as the car was working well. Lewis' penalty is frustrating, but the big points are tomorrow and if the car has the pace it had today, we should be on for a strong result."

Perez's view, meanwhile, was naturally different:

"It was a shame that we had to retire from the race today and get no points for the team. The conditions were tricky and Lewis ran out of grip and crashed into the side of me.

"I had massive damage to the sidepods and floor and once we realised the extent of this, we had to retire. It is unfortunate, as today we had some good opportunities and had a great strategy. The race pace was good and I think we could have caught Pierre Gasly. All in all, I think everything was managed well today by race control and we have been really strong the whole weekend and had the pace to fight for pole today. Ultimately, we lost a few points today but we look forward to tomorrow."

As for his prospects in the GP this afternoon, Hamilton said:

"The positives are that our pace has been good. Today in the Sprint Shootout, we would have been fighting for the front-row without the issues on our final lap. We would have been right up there battling with Max, but it wasn't meant to be. We now start third tomorrow and I hope I'll be able to fight with the Ferraris and Perez."