Vettel accuses Hamilton of “brake check” after collision

2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel has accused championship rival Lewis Hamilton of brake checking him during the incident under Safety Car where the two made contact.

Vettel hit the rear of the Mercedes driver as Hamilton slowed down to back the pack up ahead of the second restart of the race, before pulling alongside to gesticulate in anger, making secondary wheel-to-wheel contact.

Despite receiving a ten-second stop-and-go penalty during the race for the collision, Vettel stood by claims made over team radio that he thought his rival had brake checked him in the post-race interviews.

“I don’t think so, I think it was quite obvious,” says Vettel. “It’s just not the way to do it. He’s done it a couple of times.”

“After his restart was really good. He surprised me and jumped me, so I don’t think it was necessary. The problem is me right behind, getting ready, and all the other cars. The problem there is that there’s a chain reaction – he’s done something similar a couple of years ago in China at the restart. It’s just not the way to do it.”

After the initial contact, Vettel was shown driving alongside the Mercedes to express his frustration, when a second collision took place. Vettel says that Hamilton is just as responsible for the incident as he is.

“I think it was very clear,” explains Vettel. “I think in the end we’re racing with men. I don’t have radio to him, but I think if I get a penalty then we should both get a penalty.

“I guess [the reason for the penalty] was the running into the back of him, but the same for him with the brake-checking. As I said, we’re all grown-ups, we’re men. So emotions running high in the car. 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 and I had nothing to answer for. He out-smarted me then, but before it was not necessary.”

The incident has proven to be the first major flashpoint in the season-long battle between the pair at the front of the field. Asked if the rivalry between the two remains respectful in light of the incident, Vettel insists he has no personal objections with Hamilton.

“It’s still respectful,” says Vettel. “I know what you might be getting at but I don’t have a problem with him. It’s just one action today that was wrong, but I think if I get penalised, he should get penalised.”

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    Will Wood
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    101 comments on “Vettel accuses Hamilton of “brake check” after collision”

    1. This whining monkey needs to shut his gutter hole.

      1. But Vettel was right Lewis braked as we all saw on his onboard, but Vettel should get an 1 raceban for deliberty drive into an other driver.
        And Lewis should get an penaulty too for unnessery slow driving behind an safety car. Robert Doornbos said Lewis didn’t do anything wrong but Giedo vd Gaarden on dutch television ziggo got the FIA rules live and qouted from that. So the FIA really made an mess of things!

        1. Both agreed on Vettel btw he should get an much heavier penaulty.

        2. William Jones
          25th June 2017, 18:00

          You’re really going to take Vettels word on this when he has said “I guess the reason for the penalty was because I hit the back of him” and has basically refused to acknowledge that he pulled along side and deliberately crashed into him. He is temporarily delusional or worse, deliberately spreading misinformation. Neither make his word something to be trusted.

          1. “Neither make his word something to be trusted”…so you’re saying we should make him our next President here in America? :)

        3. Wasnt unnecessarily slow. Because of the long straight coming up Lewis HAD to slow down to give enough gap to the safety car so that when the SC goes in he doesnt pass it. Think about it the straight is long so he had to give the slow SC a big head start. vettel was just foolish for accelerating into the back of Lewis.

        4. You do realise Hamilton has to pause for the safety car to make it into the pits. Vettel simply made a mistake but is too proud to admit it.
          Hamilton didn’t accelerate hard out of that corner and eased off. Vettel thinking of making a pass, floored his throttle into the back of Hamilton.

        5. Have you ever watched an F1 race with a safety car before?
          In the world with Donald Trump as US president, everyone thinks if you say something enough times it will eventually become fact!
          He didn’t brake test him and you can say it for as long as you like. It will never be true!!
          One driver did exactly what every other driver does when leading behind a safety car; the other got caught out, made a mistake and then did something extraordinarily stupid! Using your car as a weapon is unacceptable on any level.

        6. Well this is Vettels version of events…

          “Well we know the leader dictates the pace but we were exiting the corner,” said Vettel.

          “He was accelerating then he braked so much that I was braking as soon as I saw, but I couldn’t stop in time and ran into the back of him. I just think that wasn’t necessary.”

          Ok, so did we see hamilton accelerating then suddenly braking just before Vettel hit him?

          In fact did we see the brakes on at all as vettel hit him?

          No what we saw was a constant deceleration through the corner after which vettel rear ended him as he was accelerating while hamilton was not. Hamilton is perfectly entitled to dictate the speed as vettel himself said.

          Now if he had accelerated then suddenly hit the brakes then yes, hamilton would be entirely at fault. However this clearly did not happen and slowing down is not the same as brake testing someone. He would even be perfectly within his rights to slow down on the straight as long as it was not a sudden drastic decrease in speed right in front of another car.

        7. David Marshland
          26th June 2017, 7:12

          Apparently the FIA looked at Hamilton’s data and concluded Vettel’s claim that Hamilton braked or slowed was simply not factual.

          From Andrew Benson’s BBC report:

          “The rules say that at a restart behind a safety car, “drivers must proceed at a pace which involves no erratic acceleration or braking, nor any other manoeuvre which is likely to endanger other drivers or impede the restart”.

          “The stewards analysed the incident and concluded from Hamilton’s data that he had not transgressed this rule and governing body the FIA backed Hamilton’s version of events.”

          “The data showed he did nothing abnormal, maintained a more or less constant speed, a spokesman said, neither braking nor lifting off completely, and behaved as he had at all the other restarts.”

          Love the way my spellcheck converted attempt at “Vettel” to “Ethel”.

      2. C, now go get the D

    2. Petulant Vettel, he just see’s red, and goes off in a rage, remember last year when he was swearing away about different drivers, and then Charlie Whiting.

    3. GtisBetter (@)
      25th June 2017, 17:29

      I understand. With those speeds and fighting for a position behind a safetycar, you have no time to react……. /s

    4. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      25th June 2017, 17:30

      Ridiculous – Vettel’s intentional bump into Lewis’ car was unbelievable. The FIA’s punishment was a bigger joke.

      Shame on the “diaper champ” and triple shame to the FIA for being so lenient.

      This is unacceptable – we need to create a hall of shame for Stewards. They can’t act the way they do and get away with it… They need to be immortalized for life when they do things like that.

      1. Yes, the penalty given for a clearly accidental tyre tap at far slower than racing speed under the safety car after a clear brake test was absurdly harsh.

        1. Really, is vettel that bad at driving that he can’t take one hand off the wheel and still drive in a straight line? Hamilton certainly has that ability as he drove at 200mph with one hand on his head restraint!

        2. Even if it was accidental (which I have my doubts about), there is no way he should have pulled alongside Hamilton like that. It was his own dangerous driving which caused the collision, and “road rage” like that needs to be shown to be completely unacceptable before it causes a more serious accident.

          That said, I seriously doubt that a driver as skilled as Vettel would have so little control over his car at such low speeds, even with the red mist down. His attitude in the interviews after the race also raises doubts for me.

    5. Who has a link to Ham onboard video? Last I remember he was around 55kph throughout the corner.

      1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0uW6LrYA_E is showing reduction in speed from 66 to 51. Hardly a break check… 15kph difference is something F1 driver should be able to deal with… especially when everybody is driving erratically to warm up the tires.

        1. Marian Gri (@)
          25th June 2017, 17:53

          The distance was too small (3-4 meters??), plus I think VET was accelerating (while HAM braking), VET assumed HAM will accelerate too… so nothing a human could avoid! Let’s get over it. It’s more like a racing incident, but not something somebody (fighting for the WDC) wants to accept if we’re talking about a DNF under SC.

          1. The braking was small and on the apex of the corner. The deceleration through the corner was constant. Vettel hit him about 10 metres after the brakes were disengaged. I agree that it was a racing incident, but vettel was only not able to react due to him accelerating behind a car maintaining speed. Vettel should have been more careful and kept his eyes on the car in front. However the real issue is not the rear ending as that happens quite a lot under safety cars. The real issue is vettels anger management issues.

        2. https://twitter.com/andrewbensonf1/status/879021462329413632
          https://twitter.com/andrewbensonf1/status/879021602775719936

          Stewards examined Hamilton’s car data in Vettel incident. Did not brake or lift off completely. Maintained more or less constant speed 1/2

          And behaved the same at that re-start at that point on the track as he did at the other two re-starts. Source: FIA 2/2

          1. I wish people wouldn’t quote Andrew Benson as a source of reliable F1 information. In particular relying on him for anything to do with Hamilton is like relying on Sean Spicer for information on Trump: it’s mostly dribble.

    6. I’m surprised he never got onto the radio and told the Race Director where to go….

      …oh wait.

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        25th June 2017, 18:32

        ha-ha-ha

        The contrast of how respectful Lewis’s comment to Charlie was compared to Seb’s comment last year, is pretty interesting isn’t it?

        1. It is called ball-licking.
          Maybe ask him on a date next time. Sneaky driver.

    7. geoffgroom44 (@)
      25th June 2017, 17:34

      I guess what Seb is saying is that Ham was in control, huh? Or maybe he is telling us that his reflexes are not as sharp as Ham’s. Or perhaps he is telling us that he knows Ham is the better driver. Or,alternatively, that he knows better than the stewards. Additionally, that he had all the data available to him that clearly showed Ham’s speed reduction…data that is not available to anyone else.
      Even if Seb was correct in this illusion, as he clearly believes it himself…that in no way excuses the actions which followed.I like Seb. I always had respect for him….until today.
      An apology to all us fans is required, Seb. That behaviour was less than we expect from you.

    8. He is delusional. Completely ignored intentionally driving into Mr Hamilton. Didn’t even mention it. Can stewards tale retroactive action against him? Not that I would expect them to punish a Ferrari driver.

    9. Race ban.

      I still can’t believe a serious F1 driver would pull alongside a competitor and turn into him like that. I’m still in shock actually.

      1. Likewise.

        The last time i felt like this after an incident like this, actually involved another driver deliberately using his car as a weapon against Hamilton when they where not even under racing conditions, and that was the utter lunatic that was Maldonado in Spa.

      2. A lot of greats over the years have done it.
        I wanted to see them fist fight.

        If anything is to go by karma got the person 😉

      3. GtisBetter (@)
        25th June 2017, 17:50

        Especially during a safety car. That is supposed to be a safe period for Marshalls to be on track. Not a time to go wheelbanging.

        1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
          25th June 2017, 18:35

          @passingisoverrated
          You know what? That’s a great point!

          The drivers should not be bull-fighting during the safety car period. It’s bad enough Vettel hit Lewis once – he then goes and hits him again during the safety car…

          Ole!

          1. Track was clear, safety car on the way in, in fact due to the low speed it was actually way less dangerous this way.

            And by the way, our racewinner Danny Ric has been applauded in the past for beeing a feisty racer for unneccessary and intentional wheelbanging at mucher higher speed ;)

            https://wtf1.com/post/ricciardo-banged-wheels-with-vettel-on-purpose-for-the-fans/

            Not that i condone Vettels behaviour the slightest, just saying…

            I also wish he would own up to his action and say something along the lines that he wanted to give Lewis a little wakeup and that there was no danger because he was in control of the situation.

    10. Adam (@rocketpanda)
      25th June 2017, 17:40

      I don’t think Hamilton brake-tested him but I do think Hamilton was driving deliberately slowly. Likewise I don’t think Vettel deliberately drove into him – one hand off the wheel I think he slid in. Regardless he shouldn’t have even tried to do something like that. Vettel was an idiot and got a deserved penalty for it – end of story.

    11. Vettel was so lost in his anger/rage/adrenaline that he didn’t even noticed that he crashed into Hamilton, it is pretty clear from his reactions after the race. The fact that he thinks the penalty is for the original contact shows how engaged he was in the whole situation, he didn’t yet came to his senses, it would be fun to see his face after he sees the replay and notices how stupid the situation was.

      He should control better his emotions, he could have won the race! But reacted in the heat of the moment

      The comments around here are also on the level of Vettel’s reaction, insult the guy instead of trying to understand what is going into a brain pumped full of adrenaline. Probably most haven’t experienced what it is, I guess it makes it difficult to access this situation in particular. If I didn’t saw the race, from the reactions of some I would have thought that he speared into Hamilton finishing his race, it was a bump, relax people.

      Btw Keith he also got 3 points on his license in case you want to add it up to the article.

      1. Marian Gri (@)
        25th June 2017, 18:00

        Not impossible. Wonder if he steered into HAM by mistake. He was driving just with the right hand, maybe it was some incontrollable movement of the hand in the heat of the moment.

      2. I agree with a lot of what you are saying @johnmilk, but these drivers are supposed to realise they are driving in very fast cars, where a collision can be dangerous to a lot of people, and shouldn’t be giving in to road rage.

        In normal traffic you are severely punished, and typically have your license taken away for such actions. And we aren’t even supposed to be racing wheel to wheel ,they are, because they are (supposed to be) able to handle it safely.

        1. @bosyber I was not excusing him, just trying to make sense out of the situation. He did get a penalty and points on his license, I think both are deserved and rightly applied, no need for anything else.

          Can’t really make comparisons to road traffic…

      3. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        25th June 2017, 18:25

        What surprises me is how a gentle tap, even if it was on purpose (which I don’t think it was) can result in 3 penalty points. When comparing to an incident like Sainz had last race. That was FAR more dangerous. He made Grosjean take avoiding action twice and go onto the grass, then lost controll and was responsible for his own and Massa’s retirement and very nearly Grosjean’s and Alonso’s too. Surely that should get more penalty points than what Vettel did on Hamilton at a crawling pace?! If some think Vettel should have a race ban, then as there have been so many worse looking incidents this year, quite a few of the drivers will have had a bad by now.

        I think it was totally stupid what Vettel did, but I still personally think Hamilton slowed down too much before the corner. I’d say the way he slowed down unexpectedly could have been just as dangerous as what Vettel did on Hamilton with his frustration.

        1. Vettel, when he used to lead GPs, was a specialist in getting everyone to crawl behind him under the SC. The fact is Hamilton wasn’t going unduly slowly – he’d been advised to slow down by his team – didn’t brake or fully lift, and had every right to drive as he was doing. Vettel was anxious about Perez catching him at the restart. So he made a mistake by presuming Hamilton would accelerate (again, despite previous laps under the SC in the same place indicating the contrary). Basically Vettel caused the initial collision through a mistake, and the subsequent collision on purpose. I think it should have been a straight DSQ. Hamilton is entirely correct in complaining about the leniency: the next time, what? He retaliates by driving into Vettel on purpose? It’s dangerous behaviour and should have been treated to ensure no repetition. I seriously don’t get why not. If this was football, it would be a red card and off. Instead, Vettel continues to believe he was correct, despite ALL evidence to the contrary.

    12. Wow. Lots of Hamilton fans in here. Obviously no one can or does want to see the fault in Hamilton’s intentional drastic reduction in speed right after a corner when there is simply no way to take avoiding measures!

      1. Please provide evidence for his “intentional drastic” brake check in a 65kph corner and I will eat my words.

        1. See the onboard video with the FOM graphics, specifically brake application during and after the corner.

          1. Take a look at the graphics again. The braking after the corner was tiny, knocking 2kph off the speed (51 to 49). I’d expect that loss just from engine breaking over that time, so any breaking force was negligible (and could easily have just been a glitch).

        2. Marian Gri (@)
          25th June 2017, 18:02

          Uuuuhhhh… the incident happened after the corner ended!

          1. Marian Gri (@)
            25th June 2017, 18:03

            The corner ended and they should have accelerated, so what VET says that he expected HAM to accelerate makes sense.

            1. It does. But that’s not what happened. I thought these guys are meant to be the best drivers in the world. Do you drive your car based on what you expect the other cars on the road to do or do you drive according to what is actually happening? They’d be Pile ups everyday if people turned their brains off and drove according to what they expected other people to do. You look out for yourself.

              Regardless the stewards have spoken. Had they deemed that Hamilton was in the wrong I am sure they wouldn’t have hesitated to punish him aswell. As things stand only one out of the two was judged to have committed an offense.

            2. The issue is this was behind the safety car just before a restart. Hamilton nearly caught the safety car back up on the previous restart, which his engineer subsequently warned him about, and it’s an offence to overtake the safety car before the safety car line. So he needed to slow down (or at least, not accelerate much) to let the safety car get far enough away.

              On top of that it’s one of the longest straights on the calendar so a slip stream is highly likely. He needed to surprise Vettel on the restart to prevent that happening, and backing the pack up is another way to do this. It fills Vettel’s mirrors full of a pink Force India and gives him something else to consider.

              I don’t believe he slowed by much, he just didn’t accelerate which is what Vettel was expecting. He was simply trying to maximise the gap between himself and the safety car, while preparing to try and get the jump on Vettel.

              I believe the initial contact was a racing incident. One car doing one thing and the other expecting another. The second contact was Vettel seeing red.

            3. @corrado-dub Hamilton was not forced to accelerate, he is supposed to dictate the pace and try not to be overtaken on a 2km straight. Plus he didn’t brake so no brake checking.

            4. Expecting Hamilton to accelerate is one thing. But failing to allow for the possibility that he might not is another.

              Ask Webber about Vettel colliding into other cars behind the SC. He has form.

          2. Fair enough. So he braked to take a corner and was late to accelerate. Would you classify that as a brake check or erratic and dangerous driving? And ofcourse Vettel is not at fault for not being alert to Hamilton moving slowly ahead of him? Anyway the stewards with all their telemetry definitely didn’t.

      2. The FIA analyzed Hamilton’s telemetry. Hamilton didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. In fact, he had done the exact same thing in prior restarts.

        1. Thank you. That doesn’t seem to matter for some however.

    13. Drivers must not drive unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner that could be deemed potentially dangerous to other competitors. Drivers may not pit, unless it is to change tyres. They are also not permitted to overtake, except if another driver in front enters the pit lane or slows with an obvious problem.

      Vettel has a point.

      Hamilton’s approaching the corner doing 90, slows to 66 going through the corner, then coming out of the corner where you’d expect a driver to start driving faster again, Hamilton jumps on his brakes to go slower again.

      If you don’t think slowing to 51 coming out of a corner is too slow, then it’s certainly erratic.

      1. Guys the stewards have all Hamiltons telemetry. If he had intentionally slowed do in an erratic and dangerous manner do you not think they would have punished him?

        1. Marian Gri (@)
          25th June 2017, 18:10

          Intentionally?? Uhhhh… was somebody else in his car??!?!!?!?!

          1. No. It wasn’t an erratic and dangerous brake check hence number 44 was not penalized.

      2. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
        25th June 2017, 18:34

        I have to agree here anon. There really should be limits to how slow you go as Hamilton could have caused contact further back too. They quite suddenly did bunch up due to him suddenly slowing down. What really annoys me is how much he moaned about how slow the safety car was. Saying this is no good for his tyres. Then he goes much, much slower himself. So he is choosing to do what he didn’t like the safety car making him do. Even though he chose to go slower still! I just don’t get it. I think the way Hamilton slowed down was just more dangerous than what vettel did. Niether would exactly result in a mager crash, just a load of mess. Although what Vettel did looked far more idiotic and clumsy and he certainly deserved the penalty, I still think Hamilton shouldn’t have gone as slow as he did so suddenly.

    14. Well, seeing that everyone here is one sided, I’ll give my 2c. I don’t believe it was a break check, but I do believe that, as seen at least twice in the past, Lewis deliberately slowed down more than necessary when leading the pack behind the SC. He even got a penalty in the past for that. A rule has been introduced because of his games, so there are no saints here.

      I agree Vettel lost his cool and banged wheels in an unacceptable way, but Hamilton was not 100% immaculate either. He knew what he was doing and the thing is, Sebastian is not a Rosberg. I believe that’s what Sebastian meant when he said he was “proving a point”.

      And, in all fairness, Hamilton is the one more likely to lose it in a mental war. His radio messages, first whining about the 10s penalty and then asking Bottas to slow down were ridiculous. Sebastian may look the fool now, but he’s got the upper hand emotionally. We’ve seen Hamilton crack down several times, whine several times, do stupid and silly things several times. Sebastian is actually doing better over the radio this year. Whining way less and driving way better.

      In the end, these two are not perfect, they are humans. They make mistakes. Nothing else to see here. Time to move on to the next race.

      Cheers.

      1. GtisBetter (@)
        25th June 2017, 18:03

        Hamilton just handed his rival an emotional break down with a stop-and-go as a result. I think he has the upper hand.

        1. He ended up behind Vettel though.

          In any case, this is an interesting championship. I hope we keep seeing the cars perform similarly so that there’s a fight for the rest of the year as well.

      2. William Jones
        25th June 2017, 18:10

        They should have been expecting it though, Lewis was on the radio previously complaining that the safety car was too slow, with that long straight, he was always going to slow early to give him the space to not overtake the SC – that’s literally his job as the lead car on a restart. Maybe Lewis was overreacting, but he had clearly telegraphed his overreaction, and the intent to slow early was obvious to all who were paying attention. I think Seb believes he was brake checked, his actions after were pure rage, but I don’t think he was. Ferrari should have warned Seb that Lewis was unhappy with the safety car speed, because that one piece of information would have told Seb exactly what Lewis would do, and to be ready for it.

        The action after, the punishment was light, it always is with championship contenders but I think Seb has lost a lot of respect among the fans and the industry by his denial of the true events.

      3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        25th June 2017, 20:48

        You’d be surprised what an impact this will have. I doubt Marchionne and Arrivabene are happy at this display of their Ferrari driver. He lost the race and potentially could lose his ride. But worst of all, he shamed himself and more importantly Ferrari today.

    15. Savagery and no phocks given between my 2 fav drivers, love it.
      Unnecessary? yes, but who cares, this fight is real :)

    16. This definitely sounds like a arsonist calling out a jaywalker.

    17. You know what? What most of you are saying about Vettel is right, and I’m a VET fan. But telemetry data confirmed that HAM braked before the corner (normal) and was still on the brakes on the corner exit (not so normal). Is that a “brake test”? Intentional or not? Honestly I don’t care. Even if Vettel avoids him, then someone behind can crash into Vettel. I wouldn’t put it past HAM to think of all those scenarios. He later was asking for BOT to slow down so he can get closer to VET to pass him.
      So, I’m glad Vettel did what he did. A little tyre bump at 70-80kph is nothing and he needed to show HAM he won’t put up with his tactics and isn’t afraid of contact.
      The penalty was deserved and sufficient even if it sux it cost him the win. But I’m still glad he did it. Isn’t this the fight we want?
      Also, most of you probably idolize Senna, a guy who ran people off the road and even rammed into them at max speed to win titles. Grow some balls.

      1. But telemetry data confirmed that HAM braked before the corner (normal) and was still on the brakes on the corner exit (not so normal).

        This is NOT true. Telemetry confirmed that Hamilton’s driving was normal.

      2. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        26th June 2017, 6:17

        CristianS – this comment is almost as insane as Vettel hitting Lewis’ car on purpose after hitting it once by accident under safety car.

    18. What a clown. Got away with a slap in the wrist and another 2 points in the lead. Absolutely pathetic from FIA.
      Can you imagine if Grosjean does that?

      1. I think Mercedes is the clown here. It’d would have been VET P5 and HAM P1 after the 10s penalty but, wait…

        So the FIA is supposed to have a rule stating that VET “needs” to finish behind Lewis after receiving a penalty? That’s what you are saying and what Lewis was whining over the radio. They ruined Lewis’ race, not Vettel nor the FIA. Let’s not confuse the VET incident with the lose screw incident. Totally different things, and the latter was 100% Mercedes’ fault. They lost the win today.

    19. Be careful Seb, even though HAM should have been penalized for intentially driving slow behind a safety car, your behavior is unacceptable and Maranello won’t be happy throwing away points.
      If you continue to screw up you may have a new teammate next year.

      http://en.espn.co.uk/abudhabi/motorsport/image/185637.html

      1. Sviatoslav (@)
        25th June 2017, 19:04

        Erm, guys, this wasn’t the first time when a leading driver drives slowly under the safety car conditions when the safety car is said to leave the track at the end of the lap.
        The leading driver has to go slowly at the end of the SC conditions to let the SC come to the pits before all cars ride over the SC line.

    20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx4AartWhg4&ab_channel=KenzoF1

      It’s quite clear looking at the footage that Vettel just had a complete melt down and it’s not the first time he’s lost his temper badly in a race, i’m sorry but the penalty he was given was comical…For something that in other sports would get you an event ban or kicked out I mean even in karting you would get kicked out for doing something like that, just unbelievable.
      I’ve seen some Ferrari fans say what Vettel did was stupid, but the amount of people I’ve seen say it was somehow all Hamilton’s fault including Vettel turning in and hitting him and that Hamilton “deserved it” is just atrocious. it really shows how much of the F1 fan base has become absurdly biased.

      1. Marian Gri (@)
        25th June 2017, 18:18

        Yeah, but I can understand VET too because FIA/stewards won’t do anything. What VET did is unacceptable indeed, but it looks like we need some revised rules for the SC period… and especially a rule regarding the 1st driver, which is leading the pack and imposing the tempo affecting the rest of the drivers.

        1. But the thing is no one else had a problem including Perez, who was directly behind the both of them..They were moving at a very slow speed if Hamilton did slow down it was VERY slightly, Vettel was just too impatient and got on the power too early which I don’t understand since the safety car was still close in front of them…I think even he knows he messed up but lets face it it’s a pretty embarrassing thing for him to do including his reaction, so he’s obviously not going to back down and admit he was wrong at this stage and make himself look utterly stupid.

    21. Neil (@neilosjames)
      25th June 2017, 18:08

      He was slowing down to prepare for a restart. Vettel’s been through, and led, enough Safety Car periods to know that the leader will slow down as and when he chooses, and those behind shouldn’t sit under their rear wing.

      Note that the guy behind Vettel didn’t have any issues with the ‘dramatic’ slowing down…

      PS – staggered he wasn’t black flagged. Terrible decision to let a top-level driver get away with something like that.
      PPS – I’m a Vettel and Hamilton fan, before anyone comes along and decides I’m something else.

      1. Interesting that there wasn’t a pile up. One would expect that had Hamilton erratically just slammed his brakes.

        1. If you watch the footage again, you’ll see that Perez was caught out by it as well.

    22. Sviatoslav (@)
      25th June 2017, 18:14

      So, Vettel needs a lesson on how to drive behind the safety car. Vettel made ridiculous claims during Abu Dhabi 2012 if I’m not mistaken, yelling on radio “He accelerates and brakes all the time”, now this.
      Vettel, if you read this, you should know: that’s the way how drivers drive behind the safety car. They need to heat up their tyres and brakes. So it was your fault in Abu Dhabi and today.

    23. Facts:
      Lewis deliberately slowed down more than necessary, and it is not the first time he do that.
      He did at cold blood, on purpose.
      Vettel did his move over Hamilton at hot blood, on purpose.
      I stay with Vettel this time.

      1. Lewis deliberately slowed down more than necessary, and it is not the first time he do that.

        That is not a fact, no matter how much you wish it so.

        1. Just listened to the FIA verdict. It’s clear as day but some people just have an opinion of Hamilton that they’re entitled to and that clouds their judgment.

        2. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
          25th June 2017, 18:42

          @trublu well, I agree, it’s not a fact. But what is a fact is that Lewis has used edgy tactics before… especially memorable ones against Rosberg many times, shouldering him away from the track. The day Rosberg decided to put a stop on it, they both went out (Spain last year). The day Rosberg decided to use the same tactic on Hamilton, it backfired (in Austria) because he is not so used to applying it.
          Even being a fan of Seb, I agree he should have been blackflagged. I don’t agree he should have gotten a race ban. I don’t agree with Lewis’s saying he drove “normally” because the slowing down was AFTER the corner.
          It’s done. I wouldn’t say Vettel gained 2 more points for his advantage today. Vettel lost a lot of points for being hot-headed. That he should have lost more with a black flag? Yes, it’s true. A race ban? Nope, too much.
          But neither the black flag or the race ban happened. And Hamilton has also benefitted from applying lenient rules in the past. Remember when he overtook the safety car in Valencia in 2010 and got 3rd despite being penalized. So this time the wrong application of rules favored Vettel, but sometimes it will be the opposite, or in favor of Hamilton.
          Mercedes seems to be stronger than Ferrari again. So Hamilton will have his revenge and soon.

    24. i dont understand why you people are so interested in wanting to penalize vettel so much or hamilton in some cases. Dangerous or not you have to admit that moment was probably the one of the most interesting moment of the race.. f1 needs more of this sort.

      Penalty was decided by the stewards so whats the point in others arguing and arguing over it, just a waste of time because it wont change anything

      1. It really doesn’t. This sort of garbage is what they serve in Nascar, not F1.

    25. Bad move by Seb, just touching wheels instead of T-boning the other guy to smithereens

    26. Im a Vettel fan and truly believe he should not have lost his cool,I think Lewis was intentionally late on the accelerator coming out of the corner which could be seen as “erratic” maybe even “dangerous”. Had they been down a straight I’d say well its completely Sebs fault but it seemed extremely slow through there. However I’m not throwing the book at Lewis but I do feel that the F.I.A should be held responsible for the safety cars pace Lewis and Seb complained twice before the incident and if the car in 2nd is complaining about the safety car pace then there is a definite issue…

    27. I’m quite astonished by Vettel today. Regardless of anything Hamilton did (the FIA has stated Hamilton did nothing wrong after reviewing the data), Vettel had no right to act the way he did and it was right that he received the maximum penalty (even if it doesn’t seem like much as, with Hamilton’s headrest coming lose, he ended up ahead). I didn’t like him during his championship years because of his and the team’s arrogance, but it seems he didn’t leave it when he went to Ferrari.

    28. Lewis’ driving was ill considered, l think my response would of been stronger, shove your penalties, let the boys play

    29. I honestly don’t think Vettel intended to bang wheels with Hamilton.

      I think what happened is that when he turned right to straighten the car up to pull alongside hamilton he was already looking right and gesticulating with one hand and the car has sort of followed where he was looking.

      From Vettel onboard it just doesn’t look deliberate and more a clumsy musjudgement.

      As for whither Hamilton brake tested him, hard to say. I think if Hamilton has hit the apex of the corner at 66kph it is not unreasonable for Vettel to assume that he will at least maintain that speed on exit. Dangerous no but not smart.

    30. Still curious, I’m wondering what the argument would be for Hamilton brake testing Vettel on purpose causing Vettel to crash into the rear of his race leading car risking puncture or possible race ending damage to his own (Hamilton’s) car?

      After all, Vettel leads in the WDC points race. Hamilton needs to score more points in every race to gain on Vettel and try to pass him in the standings. How does putting his own car at risk of damage while leading a race help Hamilton?

      1. This. Especially as he was leading, and therefore looked to close the gap.

        There is a strong likelihood of both drivers going out in that situation, and that would have disadvantaged Hamilton.

    31. The one thing I will say is that the FIA really need to do something about drivers conduct behind the SC because this is not the 1st time that the leader has been involved in something like this on a restart.

      They perhaps need to look at how Indycar do it. The leader must maintain a stead pace, No weaving, No accelerating/braking & no driving super slowly to the point where the pack behind all nearly crash into each other. There is then a designated ‘go’ zone where the leader is permitted to accelerate to try & ensure nobody tries to jump the start or anything (With restarts waved off if he is judged to have).

      With the way they do it in Indycar you rarely (If ever) see the sort of nonsense on restarts that have been seen in F1 many times going back years. Michael Schumacher for example always used to play games on restarts that more than once caught drivers behind out.

      I’m always surprised that we don’t see the sort of contact we saw today more often given the games drivers have played over the years. It’s unnecessary given how its something that could be improved with sensible rules as described above.

    32. Amazes me that, even though there is absolutely no evidence for it, people can justify blaming Hamilton for the initial collison and, even though there is a lot of evidence against Vettel, say that somehow he didnt do anything wrong.

      Seriously guys what are we doing here?

      Also there is the matter of the criminally under-reported “overtake under the safety car” that Vettel performed

      https://ibb.co/bZDKTQ

      He should have had a penalty for that too!

      1. Also there is the matter of the criminally under-reported “overtake under the safety car” that Vettel performed

        Yep, I noticed that too.

        And anyone who says it was accidental: That doesn’t matter as it came about by a clear choice on Vettel’s part to pull alongside Hamilton.

    33. Interesting that nobody has mentioned here the fact that Vettel got absolutely mugged by Hamilton on the first safety car restart. I really do think this is a factor here – he was caught napping the first time and almost lost position because of it, so clearly decided he was going to glue his nose to the back of Hamilton’s car and try to pre-empt Hamilton putting his foot down this time. Hence when Hamilton didn’t nail it out of the corner, Vettel was caught out and went into the back of him. Then, perhaps feeling somewhat foolish because of this clumsy misjudgement, he then loses his mind and rams Hamilton’s car.

      Really, I’m a big Vettel fan and have spent most of this season wanting him to come out on top in this championship battle. But really, you couldn’t put it better than Hamilton has already done – Vettel disgraced himself this weekend. He made a stupid mistake, and then rather than own up to it he has gone on the defensive and tried to blame Hamilton for it. The worst thing is that kids in Karting and other junior series look up to F1 drivers and use them as a template for how racing drivers should conduct themselves. Vettel should just own up to his mistake and apologise for ramming Hamilton, because really his actions are totally inexcusable here. He’s really let himself down, and let his fans down. I really hope once he looks at the video of the race, he reconsiders what happened there.

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