Sebastian Vettel has reflected on his dramatic collision with Lewis Hamilton at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix after retirement, admitting he was wrong and calling the incident a ‘key moment’ in their friendship. .
During the race, Vettel was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for contact with Hamilton’s car in apparent retaliation for what he believed Hamilton was ‘brake testing’ him. Hamilton was furious at Vettel’s behavior, describing it as “disgusting”.
“The fact that it is the only result [the penalty] Being able to get from such disgusting driving means we can all drive like that across the paddock and still get 4th place and get away with it. The driving penalty is because I’ve never run into it when it comes to wheel-on-wheel fights with anyone.
“I don’t really remember seeing it, especially in Formula 1. It’s not a sportsman’s act.”
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“I reflected and thought about what happened. At that moment, it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right, and I wanted to tell him, but it was the wrong form of communication.
“It wasn’t the right way, it wasn’t sporty, I admit. [that] After that we talked to each other and from that moment on we became close to each other. ”
