The crashed car of Felipe Massa

Amid a frenetic multi-car fight at the front of the field into the closing laps as drivers attempted to take advantage of long-time race leader Nico Rosberg's power problems, Massa, on fresh tyres, quickly caught the back of the leading pack as the Williams driver made a late bid of the podium.

However, entering the final lap, Massa attempted to dive down the inside of Perez into the first corner but hit the Force India's rear tyre, an impact which fired both cars into the barriers. Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz reported that Massa hit the tyre wall with a force of 27G.

The scale of the impact meant both drivers were given check-overs in the circuit's medical centre and then transferred to local hospital for further precautionary checks, where they have since been discharged.

Several hours after the end of the thrilling race, the stewards then ruled that Perez had caused the accident as the Mexican "changed his racing line" on the approach to Turn One.

The subsequent five-place grid drop means Perez will join Marussia's Max Chilton in dropping down the Austrian GP grid from where they respectively qualify, the Briton having earlier been handed a three-place demotion for spinning into his team-mate Jules Bianchi on lap one.

Speaking via a Force India press release, Perez commented: "On the final lap I was defending my position going into turn one when I suddenly got hit from behind. It was a big impact, but I am okay. I'm really sad for the team because we had an amazing race today and the one-stop strategy was working perfectly.

"It was not easy in the final laps and I was pushing hard to try and get ahead of Nico [Rosberg] for the lead. Daniel [Ricciardo] managed to get ahead of me when I had an electrical issue with my car, but I managed to reset the system for the final couple of laps. The podium was possible today and I'm just very disappointed for the points we have lost."

Massa, who returned to the track to complete his media duties on Sunday night, felt a big result had slipped through Williams' fingers.

"I was one of the quickest guys on the track, so we lost many points today," he bemoaned. "I'm happy that I'm here with no problems but I'm so disappointed for what happened with Perez, and also for the pitstop because I think maybe we could even have fought for victory today. But it shows we have a good car and I'm convinced the next race will be better."