Formula 1 championship leaders, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, are blaming one another for the incident which saw them collide behind the Safety Car in a drama-filled Azerbaijan Grand Prix
The collision happened in preparation for the restart after the second of three Safety Car periods, with Hamilton allowing the Mercedes pace car to return to the pits he seemed to decelerate through Turn 15 causing the German to hit the Briton from behind.
A furious Vettel would draw side-by-side with Hamilton and started waving angrily before appearing to turn into the Mercedes car, making wheel-on-wheel contact, something which would earn him a 10-second stop and go penalty for dangerous driving.
At the time, the 29-year-old claimed Lewis had brake tested him and maintained that argument post-race.
“I think it was quite obvious [it was a brake test],” he said
“I don’t run into the back of him on purpose, I damaged my wing, he had a little damage as well, nothing that would have impacted on the race.”
Vettel would also suggest Hamilton has previous when it comes to not considering those behind when preparing for a restart.
“It’s just not the way to do it, he’s done it a couple of times, after his [first] restart was really good he surprised me and jumped me, so I don’t think it was necessary,” Sebastian explained
“The problem is me behind getting ready and all the other cars, but the problem is there’s then a chain reaction and he’s done something similar a couple of years ago in China at the restart, it’s not the way to do it.”
When informed of the penalty, Vettel seemed bemused as to what he had done wrong, but at the same time, was expecting Hamilton to be penalised for his perceived actions.
“I guess it was the running in the back of him but same for him with the brake checking,” he said.
“We’re all grown-ups, we’re men, emotions running high in the car, but we want to race wheel-to-wheel but not when it’s the restart.
“As you saw afterwards he did very well on the restart, I had nothing to answer, he outsmarted me then but before it was just not necessary.”
As for Hamilton, he was outraged with the collision and considered Vettel’s action as a horrible example to young fans and drivers, he was also unimpressed by the lack of impact the penalty handed down had on the Ferrari driver’s race
“It definitely sets a precedent, not only for F1 but also for all the young kids who are watching us F1 drivers drive and conduct ourselves, this thing today how a four-time world champion behaves, hopefully, that does not ripple into the younger categories,” he said.
“In terms of how things are penalised, how you can do things like that and still finish fourth, I don’t know,” Lewis added. “I’ve not really thought too much about it. I just tried as hard as I could to get back up. But obviously not a great day in that sense.”