HE BRAKE TESTED ME
S
ebastian Vettel did himself no
favours when he succumbed to
a bout of ‘road rage’ during the
Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and as a a result
was handed a ten seconds stop-and-go
penalty and three penalty points added
to his super licence.
Just before the restart, after a red
flag period to clear debris from the Baku
City Circuit, Vettel nearly slammed into
the back of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes
as they prepared to step on the gas.
Vettel’s Ferrari tapped the rear-end
of the Mercedes, which had slowed
substantially, then the German showed
his anger by driving alongside Hamilton
and swerving into the silver car.
After the race Vettel told TV
reporters, “Nothing happened, did it?”
“He brake checked me as well, so
what do you expert? I’m sure he didn’t
do it on purpose but for sure it was not
the right move. If I’m struggling, people
at the back struggling even more, so I
don’t think it was necessary.”
“I got damage, he risked damage.
He’s done something similar in China
at the restart a couple of years ago so
it’s not the way to do it, I think. After the
incident, we were side by side, I raised
my hand and showed him that I wasn’t
happy with that,” explained Vettel.
The stewards served him with a ten
second penalty for his antics which, as
it panned out with Hamilton having to
pit to sort out a petulant headrest, may
have cost him victory on the day.