From the very moment Michael Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld collided on the 42nd lap of the Australian Grand Prix, F1 message boards and forums witnessed frenzied activity as race fans took sides. In the media too, the incident drew massive publicity.

However, those best equipped to give a verdict on the collision - other than the race stewards, who dismissed it as a 'racing accident' - are the Germans' fellow drivers.

"I did watch the race afterwards," said David Coulthard. "And my opinion of it, and I do have the benefit of being in the car - you've got to remember that he, sitting in the car, all he can see is this little mirror to make a judgment where the other car is, so it's not as clear in the car as it is from the outside. From the outside, he does appear to squeeze, once Nick had already put himself towards the inside, would be the obvious observation to make and then once Nick is on the grass, and there is only one way he's going is into the side of Michael.

"What we don't see clearly from the television was, did Nick just brake too late on the dust and was he always going to run into him?" the Scot continued. "Even if Michael hadn't squeezed him onto the grass, would he still have hit him, but just at the apex?

"So I think clearly Michael did move but I think there's a bit of over-reaction saying that he's Rambo and there's a big push-back. When I see him, and when we talk in the drivers' briefing, the GPDA meeting on Friday evening, then that will be one of the things that I'll raise and we'll talk about it and I'm sure Michael will give his opinion but ultimately it gives you all something to talk about, doesn't it?

"It was great Giancarlo winning," added the Scot, "but having an incident adds to the spectacle. For me, what was more questionable was the marshals running across the track. At one point there were about four or five marshals running from where, several years ago, a marshal was killed, across the racing line to give him (Schumacher) a push, for a privileged service - he'd obviously paid his valet parking ticket beforehand.

"I'm not saying you don't want cars on the track, because when there's only 20 cars out there, you need them all running but I know how difficult that corner is. If a driver did make a mistake, you could, even with a yellow flag, you could end up sliding off into somewhere.

"I think maybe Michael's manoeuvre was to disturb Nick Heidfeld," said race Melbourne winner Giancarlo Fisichella. "Maybe Nick was braking a bit too late and he's gone onto the gravel and he couldn't stop the car. At the end of the race the stewards didn't give them any warning so I think it was OK."

Jacques Villeneuve, who enjoyed an infamous moment with Schumacher back in 1997, preferred to be diplomatic: "I didn't see the accident so I cant really comment," said the Canadian. "I only saw it on the big screen while I was racing, so I wasn't concentrating on it too much."

While Kimi Raikkonen, who has enjoyed a number of thrilling dog-fights with the seven-time world champion said: "I haven't seen the accident. I only saw the cars in the gravel. I don't know what happened."