Rossi lost control of his Yamaha in the opening complex of corners and slid into de Puniet's LCR Honda, taking the Frenchman out of the race.
De Puniet, who had qualified fifth, felt he deserved better.
"I sure am very disappointed because I did a good practice, a good start, and I was fifth after the first corner," he told the official MotoGP website.
"Rossi tried to pass me in a corner where it's not impossible, but almost impossible. He locked a rear and he touched me, and I went outside the track and I crashed."
The Italian accepted the blame and has apologised for the tangle. Unlike de Puniet, Rossi was able to rejoin and ultimately finished 11th.
De Puniet said he was unhurt except for "some pain in my knee", but that his main frustration was that he had again been unable to convert his practice and qualifying speed into a strong race finished.
He has qualified on the first two rows on four occasions so far this year and rarely started outside the top ten, yet his best results of 2008 to date are a pair of ninth places.
"It's so hard because we did a good improvement over the weekend and at the end the race result is not there," de Puniet said. "We need to keep concentrating, and I think the results will come soon."
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