The defining moment of a race dominated by torrential rain at the start – and which led to a 22-minute delay after it had been red-flagged for safety reasons - came on lap 55.

It was wheel-to-wheel racing between Alonso and Massa, with the Brazilian in his Ferrari and the Spaniard in his McLaren touching at one stage.

The reigning double world champion just managed to hold sway to take the lead and the chequered flag for his 18th career victory and third this year for McLaren.

In the post-race heat, Alonso seemingly claimed Massa deliberately hit him, a comment which prompted an angry response and a lot of finger pointing.

It is not the first time the duo have clashed this season. They exchanged words following a first-corner incident at the Spanish Grand Prix.

On this occasion at least Alonso was humble, but then he had cause to be as he had just taken 10 points.

“It (the overtaking manoeuvre) was so close,” said the Spaniard, who now trails team-mate Hamilton by two points in the title race after the young Briton could only finish ninth.

“We touched each other two times, and I apologise to him (Massa) because I was so stressed when I finished a race we nearly didn’t finish.

“I was not too happy at the end of the race because we touched each other, but I’ve nothing against him.

“On the podium, I realised this is motor racing. If I said something to him, I apologise in front of everybody, so I want to enjoy the win and forget everything.”

Massa was understandably fuming with Alonso’s comment as he said: “I was really surprised when he came to say I did that on purpose – I would never do something like that on purpose.

“Like I said in Barcelona, that was normal, here was normal. It’s going to be like that.

“So if he was a little bit unhappy, it’s not my problem. I just do my race and I follow the rules of the sport. That’s all.

“If somebody tells me something I did wrong, and I didn’t, I will be unhappy. That is normal.

“But if he has apologised, then that’s fine. He knows he was not right after the race.”

The feud was a suitable aftermath to an incident-packed grand prix in which Hamilton’s championship lead has now been slashed.

The rain hit the circuit on the first lap in which the 22-year-old had initially moved into fourth from 10th, the grid position as a result of his 175mph smash in qualifying yesterday.

Cleared to race this morning, Hamilton showed no ill effects, although he later revealed he woke with a large bruise on his chest.

However, a collision between the BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica approaching the second corner led to his McLaren being clipped and sustaining a puncture.

Nursing his car, he dropped back down the order and was the last to pit as the field changed to wet tyres, which failed to prove effective as the rain soon became monsoon-like.

At one stage, seven drivers – Jenson Button, Adrian Sutil, Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Anthony Davidson, Scott Speed and Vitantonio Liuzzi – all slid into the gravel at the first corner in the space of 30 seconds, akin to something out of a slapstick comedy.

It was soon rightly called to a halt after four laps, with the remarkable sight of debutant Markus Winkelhock in the Spyker leading the race after his team had changed the German’s car to wets at the end of formation lap.

When the race eventually re-started in sunny conditions, Hamilton was at the rear of the field after a crane had lifted him out of the gravel and back onto the track, and he was the first to change to dry tyres.

That was a mistake as he tip-toed around the circuit, going off on to the gravel at one point, and his race was compromised.

Despite a brave charge, and a number of retirements – including that of one of his title rivals Kimi Raikkonen – he could do no better than ninth, finishing off the podium for the first time this season after a nine-race run.

“It was a crazy race, a new experience for me,” said Hamilton.

“But it’s just part of a steep learning curve for me.”

Mark Webber completed the podium, his first since Monaco in 2005, with he and Red Bull team-mate David Coulthard sandwiching the Williams of Alex Wurz in fourth.

Heidfeld – cleared by race stewards following an incident with the Toyota of Ralf Schumacher on lap 19 in which they came together – was sixth, Kubica seventh and Renault’s Heikki Kovalainen eighth.