SPA, Belgium (AFP/REUTERS) - Nico Rosberg mounted a robust defence of his driving on Sunday after being booed on the podium for his part in the "unavoidable" second-lap collision with Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the Belgian Grand Prix.

But Hamilton claimed that the German had told him he had done it "on purpose".

The crash left British driver Hamilton with a puncture that wrecked his race as Rosberg finished second behind Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull to extend his lead in the title race to 29 points.

"We just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose. He said he did it on purpose," repeated Hamilton to reporters .

"He said he could have avoided it. He said 'I did it to prove a point'. He basically said 'I did it to prove a point'.

"And you don't have to just rely on me, go and ask (Mercedes team bosses) Toto (Wolff) and Paddy (Lowe) who are not happy with him as well," said Hamilton.

"I was gobsmacked when I was listening to the meeting. You need to ask him what point he was trying to make."

Rosberg separately told reporters that the collision was a racing incident.

"We had a discussion, as is important after such circumstances, because obviously what happened cost the team a lot of points," he said.

"That is the main focus and the biggest issue with such a happening as today.

"Unfortunately, I'm not going to go into any details, that wouldn't be the right thing to do. We need to review and discuss how we move forward."

Earlier, in defence of his actions, Rosberg had said: "First of all, what I hear is that (Mercedes team boss) Toto Wolff said it was unavoidable, which doesn't put the blame on me, and the fans that were booing me were the British fans.

"Of course, I am very unhappy for the team because we have the fastest car and we should have had first and second."

He added: "There's always the British media who is always going to be on the other side and the German media will be on my side.

"We are here to entertain and give all of you at home a great time, but not in the way we did today - but I do not feel I am being made to be the bad guy.

"I just have to wait and see and have a discussion and I will also give my opinion. For sure, I regret that we touched because it cost me the win and it was unavoidable."