Heikki Kovalainen believes Mark Webber was taken by surprise by the Lotus' early braking point in the Australian's frightening accident in the European Grand Prix.
Webber was launched over the back of Kovalainen's Lotus as he tried to make up ground after first lap delays and an early pitstop. The Red Bull landed upside down, rolled on the ground and then slammed into the barriers, but Webber was unhurt.
"I'm fine and I'm very happy that Mark is fine as well," Kovalainen told Britain's BBC TV. "It shouldn't have happened, but it did. I think Mark was surprised how early I had to brake for that corner.
"He was behind me, I was defending because I was racing him and I always want to defend, but then I think he was not sure which way to go and at that moment I hit the brakes and he had no chance to react. I think that's what happened."
Kovalainen denied that the incident showed the speed differential between the frontrunners and the new teams is too great.
"I don't think it's an issue, we should be good enough to deal with that," he said. "We need to look at the telemetry, look at everything, to see if we can learn anything from that. It was a big accident and luckily he didn't get hurt. We need to look at it. But I think this year with the difference between where we are and the top cars, I've never felt that it's too much or that I cannot handle the situation."