Lewis Hamilton used a famous Ayrton Senna quote on going for a gap after he was penalised for a clash with Red Bull's Sergio Perez in a Belgian Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday.

Mercedes' seven-time world champion finished fourth but was demoted to seventh after stewards ruled he had caused the collision.

"As Ayrton said, if you no longer go for a gap that exists, then you are no longer a racing driver," Hamilton told reporters.

"That is what I did. And when I watched it back it feels like a racing incident to me."

Perez retired, sending race winning team mate Max Verstappen 118 points clear at the top of the championship with Sunday's main grand prix still to come before drivers can start the August break.

Hamilton said conditions were tricky, with rain delaying proceedings before five laps behind the safety car led to a rolling start, and the contact was not intentional.

"He was slow and I went up the inside and I was more than half a car length alongside," added the Briton.

"I feel like we should not be deterred from racing. It would have been nice to finish fourth but I don’t really care about finishing fourth, I want to win."

Team boss Toto Wolff said it had been a clear racing incident.

Perez said Hamilton had run out of grip and crashed into him.