Lewis Hamilton has taken to social media announcing he’s accepted an apology from Kimi Raikkonen following their clash at the British Formula 1 Grand Prix.

A sluggish start from Hamilton left the pole-sitter exposed in the opening sequence of corners, with Raikkonen pinching a brake and sliding into the Mercedes at Village.

The contact pitched Hamilton into a spin, dropping him to the rear of the field and prompting a recovery drive that ultimately netted him second.

Immediately after the race the four-time world champion said Ferrari had used ‘interesting tactics’, while team boss Toto Wolff claimed the move was either ‘deliberate or incompetent’.

Hamilton has since taken to Instagram to put the record straight, confirming he’d accepted an apology from Raikkonen what was a racing incident.

“Kimi said sorry and I accept it and we move on,” he wrote.

“It was a racing incident and nothing more. Sometimes we say dumb shit and we learn from it.”

Hamilton also explained his snub absence from the post-race television interviews in parc ferme, leaving Martin Brundle to conduct the interview on the podium.

“I lost nearly 3kg trying to get back to the top for you and my team,” he posted.

“I barely had any energy at the end to stand let alone talk.

“If you can’t understand and appreciate that then I fully understand.

“However, it was nothing to do with anger, literally just exhausted both physically and emotionally.”

Wolff too has moved to hose down his comments, admitting on Polish television that his comments were ‘stupid’.

“I said you need to question whether it was incompetence or deliberate, a stupid comment of mine in the emotion,” he told Eleven Sports.

“But it was just a stupid manoeuvre and a stupid manoeuvre that happened a second time in three races, that’s why (I had) the emotion.”

Hamilton’s drive to second mitigated the damage Sebastian Vettel was able to do in the championship standings.

Vettel won the race to extend his advantage by seven points, and now holds an eight point lead in the title fight heading into the German Grand Prix on July 20-22.