Vettel must cut out the temper tantrums

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Sebastian Vettel has won four world championships and 45 races. Few manage to do this without putting someone’s nose out of join along the way.

Even so, some of the media coverage Vettel has received – particularly in the UK – has been distinctly partial. During Vettel’s championship-winning years British newspaper readers were left in no doubt that his team mate Mark Webber was the only Red Bull driver who ever received a team order (he wasn’t) and was given a significantly less reliable car (he didn’t).

That noxious British stereotype of the ‘cheating German’ was just too tempting for many. But not all the negative criticism was tinged with this kind of xenophobia. Some of it was justified.

And so is the criticism of his behaviour last Sunday. Vettel was hot-headed, reckless and entirely to blame for the collision he instigated with Lewis Hamilton.

A moment of madness

Vettel was swamped by Mercedes-powered cars at restarts
Vettel arrived in Azerbaijan with a 12-point advantage in the championship. But his lead was coming under threat: Hamilton took a big bite out of it in Canada.

Mercedes appear to have solved many of the teething troubles with their W08. Baku again suited them well and, astonishingly, they were even further ahead on one-lap pace than they were 12 months ago. Perhaps the FIA’s latest clampdown on teams using oil as fuel had hit the Ferrari-powered cars more than the other teams.

Whatever, Vettel went into the race on the back foot, even beaten to third on the grid by Kimi Raikkonen. But a first-lap collision moved him up to second. Realistically, this was as good as damage limitation was going to get for him in Baku.

Then began a spate of incidents which caused a series of Safety Car interruptions. Baku’s unusual circuit configuration meant this was always going to be problematic, as the GP2 drivers discovered 12 months ago.

For Hamilton it presented the opportunity to back Vettel up into a chasing pack of Mercedes-powered cars who could out-accelerate him to turn one. But the race leader also needed to avoid falling foul of the rules which forbid drivers from overtaking the Safety Car before it returns to the pits.

Hamilton therefore gave the Safety Car plenty of time to pull away as they rounded turn 15 ahead of the lap 16 restart. He almost succeeded in costing Vettel a place to Sergio Perez. Behind them, Kimi Raikkonen’s car was replaced by two more Mercedes-engined rivals: Felipe Massa and Esteban Ocon.

Within seconds the Safety Car was out again due to debris. The pressure on Vettel ratcheted up: Now he had to survive another restart with a trio of Mercedes-powered cars filling his mirrors. Hamilton, who’d been warned by his team he’d cut it fine with the Safety Car on his previous restart, slowed the field again at turn 15.

F1 Fanatic understands from the FIA that Hamilton’s telemetry from this and other points in the race was subsequently scrutinised by the stewards. They concluded he did nothing unusual and, in particular, nothing he wasn’t allowed to do in his role as race leader during the restart procedure. What happened next was, therefore, all on Vettel.

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Contact made

The Ferrari made contact with the Mercedes twice. The first, from behind, seemed to be accidental. It was the kind of incident we’ve seen happen before in high-stakes restarts, notably in 2012 when Jenson Button almost went up the back of Vettel at Singapore.

The second contact was clearly deliberate, as described by the stewards: “Car five [Vettel] drove alongside and then steered into car 44 [Hamilton]”.

An angry Vettel came on the radio: “He brake-tested me. What the hell is going on?” An astonished Hamilton told his team: “Vettel literally just came alongside me, turned in and hit me.”

It was a momentary loss of control and a lapse in judgement, albeit a severe one. Had Vettel found the sense to admit as much afterwards the criticism heaped on him would not have been quite so severe. Instead he stuck to his guns and feigned innocence when told he was being punished for dangerous driving.

Temper, temper

Vettel threw a podium away in Mexico
It was hard not to think of Vettel’s behaviour in Mexico last year as all this unfolded. The angry rashness and poor judgement were the same.

For several years now we’ve been able to hear a lot of what the drivers tell their teams on the radios. And lately – since around the beginning of last year – Vettel has sounded increasingly highly-strung.

Sometimes this has been with justification. Such as in Russia last year when he was rammed twice in as many corners by Daniil Kvyat, prompting his memorable “ping pong” remark. But his ire continued to rise last season and, in Mexico, boiled over with his four-letter tirade at the race director.

It gives the impression that a new strain of desperation is at work in Vettel. It’s as if going four years without a world championship have driven him to heights of agitation in the cockpit which he can’t quite control.

He wouldn’t be the first driver to suffer in the unique high-pressure environmental at Ferrari, amplified by being the team’s number one title hope. But he needs to knock this behaviour on the head.

In Mexico his incautious move on Daniel Ricciardo cost him a podium position. Last weekend he threw 13 points away. The 2016 championship was decided by less than half that.

It’s time for someone in his corner to do the tap on the shoulder and the quiet word in the ear. Over to you, signor Arrivabene.

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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263 comments on “Vettel must cut out the temper tantrums”

  1. He should indeed. Although in my ideal world Hamilton and Vettel would take each other out at every one of the upcoming races and Kimi would end up winning the championship :) (assuming Bottas doesn’t take him out at every single race start, of course)

    Don’t bother replying teamlh and teamsv

    1. Fukobayashi (@)
      28th June 2017, 12:48

      How about Kimi winning a WDC on merit? Surely as a fan that’s what you should hope for.

      1. I think the typical rate the race rating of races that have a lottery like results shows people care very little about merit.

        1. @offdutyrockstar @philipgb luck has a lot to do with it, however there is also no denying that Ricciardo, Stroll, etc. were worthy of their positions based on merit of racing cleanly and quickly where others did not. Say, for example, Hamilton and Vettel were to crash each other off at every other race, is it a discredit to Kimi for being able to claim the win without crashing into anyone?

        2. Lucky winners can be fun now and again. But when it would happen most of the times it’s no fun anymore.
          It’s a reason why I get frustrated with Indycar. They have a good field with great talent, but too often you can luck into the race winning strategy.
          They crash or get hit, go on a different strategy and by luck of a good timed safety car they get into contention. When it happens once a year, that’s cool, but in Indycar it’s almost every race.

      2. Here we go…

        1. Nope, we all completely agree with you on everything.

    2. Race ban for the following race , his hissy fits will stop…simple solution!!!

      1. @nosehair As it stands, 3 more penalty points and he gets just that!

        1. Bugger the 3 more points. Ban him now ..he is out of control, and what is more alarming than his fits rage…is his defiance of his crimes and lack of remorse, l truely beleive he has mental health issues… F uk Charlie! Seriously

          1. Nice trolling.

      2. Umar A (@umartajuddin)
        28th June 2017, 13:28

        Unlikely. I found this on Autosport.

        “It was back in 2009, in relaxed circumstances, well away from a Formula 1 paddock, that Mark Webber first gave me insight into the Jekyll & Hyde aspect of Vettel’s character.

        “I can see why Seb’s popular,” Webber said. “He’s normally polite, got a sense of humour, and smiles a lot, but if things go wrong… mate, when it comes to throwing toys out of the pram, I’ve never seen anyone like him.'”

        1. i may be that guy too, but one thing is for sure – EVERYONE hates that guy after seeing the histrionics more than once.

        2. @umartajuddin

          I remember that comment as well.. and honestly, it was clear for everyone to see since 2010. He always seemed to put on a PR friendly fake smile in front of the camera, but his behaviour at Turkey 2010, Silverstone 2010, Malaysia 2013 etc. showed that he’s just a hot headed, self-entitled and arrogant person who can do no wrong.

      3. FreddyVictor
        28th June 2017, 15:36

        Race ban for the following race , his hissy fits will stop…simple solution!!!

        if it’s the hissy fits you don’t like, just ask FIA to stop broadcasting them
        personally, I’m sick & tired of hearing GRO and his frigging brakes – it’s every session!

        1. just ask FIA to stop broadcasting them

          Yeah I don’t think that’s quite how the FIA works.

          I feel sorry for Grosjean, it’s tiring hearing him complain about it, but it must be even more tiring having to actually suffer the problem.

        2. Grosjean and Button are classic whiners… but throwing hissy fits and misbehaving like a child who needs to be spanked is Vettel’s speciality.

          1. You can add Alonso to list of classic whiners, and if anybody wants to know what brake testing is watch Alonso’s Renault days. I have never seen anyone do such brake testing and getting away with penalties like him. He used to start braking sooner with passing lap until its time to really brake test the car coming behind him.

          2. @C Can u give me examples of when Alonso brake-tested anyone? Bahrain 2008 is not a valid answer.

          3. @mashiat: Hungary 2006 in Free Practise on Doornbos.

          4. @Mashiat: Nurburgring 2003 against DC.

      4. Keith! a idea for the 2018 season “dummy spitters” rating system out of 10 per weekend voted by us punters, with a end of year champion??

    3. When not let down by his team or car, Kimi is good enough to win on merit. He knows what he is doing; let him get on with it!

      1. I have been waiting for Kimi to “get on with it” ever since he came out of retirement… and it doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen anytime soon, unless he is talking about ice cream.

    4. lol then after bottas pits after his puncture on kimi’s car, Danny boy will take the flag.

      1. @Mrmi Only after Verstappen’s had an engine failure ;)

    5. Historically championship leaders crashing eachother brings us above average entertainment value. So good job!

    6. Not a fan of anyone since schumacher left, and I consider vettel and hamiton similar, hamilton with higher highs and vettel usually more constant, anyway raikkonen isn’t even able to beat bottas nor ricciardo, and if the reliability of verstappen improves, he’ll end up behind verstappen too.

      He has ZERO chance to win this championship, even if vettel and hamilton suffer a season ending crash next race.

  2. Bastian Shi (@kimiforpresident)
    28th June 2017, 12:00

    If he can’t keep his temper under control, he’s going to lose himself even more races and titles. Simple as that.

    1. Marian Gri (@)
      28th June 2017, 12:30

      … and lose his Ferrari seat too! If he loses the WDC by less than 13 points… things at Ferrari regarding his person will go downhill more than sure.

      1. Lol hence why the Italian media is backing him.

      2. @corrado-dub can you imagine if Ferrari end up getting rid of him if that happens? They would be in need of a top driver desperately… “Ciao, Flavio, what’s the situation with Alonso and Honda?”

      3. I don’t think “loosing his seat at Ferrari” is the problem. Vettel’s contract at Ferrari runs out at the end of this season. They will want to have a driver of his calibre, so they would have him back if he was available. Besides renewing his contract at Ferrari the other logical place for him to end up is at Mercedes. I think that is why they have put Valtteri on a one year contract, in the hope of securing Sebastian for that seat in 2018. The two problems Vettel has now created are to make his contract negotiations with Mercedes more difficult (they would want extra clauses in their contract with him to discourage a similar incident) and also to give Valtteri more chance of securing that seat.

        1. Bastian Shi (@kimiforpresident)
          28th June 2017, 20:01

          Well Alonso’s contract runs out at the end of the year, and I doubt he will stay at McLaren, so…

    2. @kimiforpresident
      Vettel messing up his own chances of race wins and titles would be fine if he were the only person involved. If his anger leads to an incident which injures another driver, a marshal or a spectator there will be hell to pay. Even if it “only” affects his team, that’s still hundreds of people at Ferrari who are working their hearts out to give him the best car they can.

    3. Keeing his sense of humor and politeness when he feels good aside, I like how Vettel is not afraid of showing his emotions or giving another guy a piece of his mind. His Redbull wins springs to mind when he screams like a girl after the wins or on the other side his angry shouts to Webber.

      But yeah lately he is going out of control, I just want the stewards to forget whether a driver is a 4 time world champion or a driver who is yet to get his first points. Let the driver get an unbiased penatly, thats what I want to see.

      Honestly what we saw on sunday was a penatly awarded to Vettel to make the race interesting, Charlie wanted Vettel to be right onto Hamilton’s path, makes a great show, keeps the spectators happy. But was that right , Hell No ! Lets see what happens later, I would atleast want a heavy grid drop to avoid other drivers to even think about doing such a thing.

      1. “Honestly what we saw on sunday was a penatly awarded to Vettel to make the race interesting, Charlie wanted Vettel to be right onto Hamilton’s path, makes a great show, keeps the spectators happy. But was that right , Hell No ! Lets see what happens later, I would atleast want a heavy grid drop to avoid other drivers to even think about doing such a thing.”

        Exactlly, I thought that aswell right away. When it was apparent Lewis will need to pit, penalty for Vettel came in that instance. Very artificial, but unlike DRS it worked great.

        1. The FIA considering further action (plus more detail on Hamilton’s exoneration):
          http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/40431244

  3. Is it really true nobody can find an official source on FIA investigating HAM’s breaking/slowing down/not slowing down?
    And what do the people think about this:
    https://streamable.com/phz5p
    Slowing down to 49kph, after the corner (slowing down more than 20kmh during the corner), is that within the rules? It’s really isn’t, is it?

    1. What part of “Hamilton’s telemetry from this and other points in the race was subsequently scrutinised by the stewards.”
      do people not understand?
      Why would they not look at Hamilton’s driving and take it into consideration? I mean seriously.
      He did nothing wrong its time for people to accept that!

      1. You could answer your own question, if you didn’t leave out a crucial part of your quote, @theoddkiwi ;)
        The sentence starts with “F1 Fanatic understands …”

        People, including me, would like to see the official review by FIA and acquittance of Hamilton regarding the accusation by Vettel/Ferrari that he was ‘driving erratically’.
        We all saw on Sunday (and the video is now online) that Hamilton braked/accelerated/brake when he ‘took over’ from the safety car. It is very well possible that FIA did not consider this erratic driving because he did the same on the earlier SC occasion(s). But it would be nice to see nevertheless.
        PS – these are the only official steward reports released AFAIK.

        1. ham hits the apex at 60 by the video, not sure where you see him accelerate? he is further slowed to 54 before the corner finished and vettel rear ended him, and 51 when vettel pulled on his side and hit him, 49 when ham was already hit and waving his hands!

          it s vettel who assumed ham would accelerate and jump start, and misjudged! he rear ended ham as a result.

          it is impossible to understand simple things in life… ham had nothing to gain from a rear ending/ dnf situation but everything to loose! he is the one trailing in the WDC, why on earth he would do it when he was dominating the field through out the race…

          i guess people just simply hate ham no matter what others do, they try to find fault in him

        2. There nothing as it was started by a sky and motorsport that the FIA briefed them, but somehow forgot to write a report on their decision, its laughable at best.

          I do hope the FIA haul him infront of them, then they will have to enter that telemetry as exhibit and the truth will come out.

          It was the same way we believed Hamilton when he said Trulli went past him under SC conditions in ’09 till the truth came out.

          1. @rockie I think you’re being blinded by pure hate here. FOM have released an official video saying the FIA investigated Hamilton and found he did nothing wrong. What more proof do you need ? Or should any hearing ignore the race stewards, the FIA and just hear your expert opionon. You’re wrong on this one, just accept it.

          2. @rockie
            i think you are rock solid :)
            “It was the same way we believed Hamilton when he said Trulli went past him under SC conditions in ’09 till the truth came out.”

            this time FIA in an official video explained it, not just Ham’s word! You are confusing events of complete different nature. FIA checked Ham’s telemetry and found nothing to investigate any further! Because he didnt brake check anyone, just driving as expected… You just cant comprehend the FACT that Vettel misjudged what Ham would do, and decided to accelerate in an attempt to not to be left behind if HAM floored it! Again magic words: “misjudgement” and “assumption” vs ” HARD FACT of TELEMETRY”

    2. Slowing down to 49kph, after the corner (slowing down more than 20kmh during the corner), is that within the rules? It’s really isn’t, is it?

      Which bit of the rules would you say that’s outside?

      The video you posted shows him doing 62kph at the apex of the corner, then as he gently coasts the speed SLOWLY drops to 53kph, which is the point you see his helmet jerking with the initial contact from Vettel. It drops a bit more to 49kph as Hamilton looks in his left hand mirror.

      He’s certainly not brake-testing, slowing unexpectedly, or anything like that. Had he accelerated out of the corner then braked then there might be some justification in apportioning blame, but he clearly didn’t.

      The initial contact, as far as I can see, was caused simply by Vettel believing that Hamilton was going to accelerate out of the corner and being caught out when he didn’t. That, in itself, was just a slight misjudgment which wouldn’t have warranted any action from the stewards.

      I’d imagine, by now, that Vettel has been taken through every millisecond of that footage and seen how he made a mistake.

    3. Even though I fully agree and that’s what I’m trying to say since the uk media parade started, Vettel is fully to blame for his reaction afterwards. There is no official source, only tweets and some fan data extracted from the f1 app and the tv OSD. There are also amateur trackside videos that prove your point.

    4. @danseb, seriously what’s with you people assuming corner or not someone has to drive in a certain way? It’s a period of tire warmup, safety car and generally driving slower to let safety car get away before restart. Of course he has to slow down, corner or not who cares the driver behind need to maintain the distance and not crash. Corners only play a role when its a racing speed, otherwise it’s no different to a straight.

      1. That’s the perfect point @ivan-vinnitskyy ! Some people are saying Hamilton shouldn’t slow down coming out of a corner because its not natural to slow down mid-late in the corner. But under race conditions the exact same thing can be said about slowing on the straight. I mean who slows down on a straight ?! Every lead driver has to slow the pack at some point and under the safetycar it doesn’t matter where As long as there’s no rapid drop in pace, which there wasn’t.

    5. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      28th June 2017, 13:01

      @danseb watch the overhead – Lewis is not slowing down, Seb is accelerating. The in-car shots have caused many people to think that Lewis is braking practically to a standstill but the problem is that Vettel wanted to push to 100+km/h out of that corner… This was a ridiculous collision by Vettel – billions of people drive better than Vettel on a daily basis in traffic around the world.

      1. @joew As I said on another post, I really don’t know what to believe because I do not know what qualifies for “brake testing” according to the rules. You said “He’s certainly not brake-testing“. Can you give me an explanation please, since you used the word certainly, what qualifies for “brake testing” just so I know?

        @freelittlebirds We already saw the footage like a million times. But my main problem here is that everybody used as an argument this: Hamilton did not brake-test Vettel, FIA rules. Well, no such official report exists whatsoever. Plus, we did not see a note from the stewards, during the race, that Hamilton was under investigation. So, who made this up since Hamilton wasn’t investigated at all? And just for the record, here is my initial thought for this incident.

        1. The incident was investigated @sakis ! The FIA gave Vettel a penalty because he was at fault. They looked at the data and judged Hamilton did nothing wrong. They investigated Hamilton and Vettel at the same time to see if there was any truth in the “brake check comments” and found nothing at all to back there up, hence no penalty.

        2. @sakis just because you didnt see the actual report doesnt mean it doesnt exist!

          reports coming from people who are involved and from people who are in contact with FIA. they did check ham’s data and footage, and found nothing illegal or erratic.

          plus, it s common knowledge and expectation during restarts that lead car will pace slow and bunch the field! watch the video, ham is slowing down, nowhere he is accelerating… it only looks like he is braking hard because vettel is accelerating in assumption of ham would do the same! which vet misjudged! ham was hit out of the corner before cornering finished! if he was constantly speeding to 100 to and slowing to 50 that is erratic… he was only slowing down in this case! pure misjudgement from vettel! people say ham should have accelerated… there is no rule backs that and contrary to that rules says he can slow down the pace to bunch the field! that is a fact!

          slowing from 60 to 54 is not brake checking, it is slowing… if he was doing 100 and went to 50, maybe you could say he was doing brake checking… videos available clearly show thats not the case, only thing is video angles make it look like ham stood still because vet accelerated hard in assumption!

          1. @mysticus @sakis

            @sakis just because you didnt see the actual report doesnt mean it doesnt exist!

            I can confirm no such report exist, if you scroll down all the stewards decisions are listed below except Hamiltons.


            FIA race report

          2. @mysticus Had you seen my initial post regarding the incident you wouldn’t be writing all these things. I am being specific, at least I think so, but that’s ok. I am gonna repeat it.

            I really don’t know what to believe regarding this.

            I saw the footage so many times with step by step playback and I am totally confused. On-board graphics are showing Hamilton braking 3 times. First is when entering the corner (95—>71 kph), second is when exiting the corner (66—> 51 kph) and the last time is after he is hit by Vettel. I don’t know what qualifies as “brake testing”, what I do know, based on common sense and my everyday driving experience, is that when exiting a corner, and especially a blind corner like the one the incident happened, you are not supposed to brake but accelerate. But again, being the leader and controlling the pace, maybe gives you the right to do so, even on a blind corner.

            Regarding Vettel’s behavior, whether was intentional or not, I think it was black flag material. He did not one but two infringements of the rules, the second was overtaking under Safety Car, which surprisingly was missed by the stewards.

            I accept what you say, that indeed Hamilton was officially investigated, even though we never saw such note during the race. We only saw car 5, and not car 5 and car 44, under investigation. Alright.
            I haven’t seen the official report, which perhaps explains the rules, so I really do not know what to believe. And that youtube video on F1 channel just says that “Hamilton’s telemetry was checked”, nothing else. You, @joew, @freelittlebirds (both didn’t bother to reply), Tom, @patrickl and a ton of others appear to be CERTAIN and 100% sure that there was no brake testing. Can you explain me please what do the official rules say regarding “brake testing”? Since you all are so certain that there was no such thing it means you have the knowledge. Enlighten me please. Thank you.

          3. @sakis
            most of F1 rules are regarding speeding / brake test etc are case by case interpret able unfortunately. In an interview, another driver/race winner for this GP, Ric, commented, and said, Ham was already slowing down for the corner, and he didnt accelerate, and was expected for that state of restart, also like many stated, Ham had nothing to gain from a DNF situation where he was comfortably leading from the Quali and whole race up until those event took place…. He was potentially wasting 25 points, and risking his chasis/PU for further damages and chance of later races!

            Brake testing is someone going at certain speed and braking abnormally (subjective) before anyone who is following at a safe distance (expected) to be able to react!

            Ham hit the apex at 62kmh though i saw 60, dropped to 54kmh just before finishing the turn when vettel rear ended him by misjudging Ham’s move and accelerating which made it look like ham brake checked him due to speed differential of vet’s acceleration and ham’ already slowing state!

            at 60kmh, if ham brake checked vettel, he would stop dead mid corner! that would be brake checking…if he hit the curb at 100 and dropped to 50 mid corner, that would be brake checking… the speed ham was doing at the apex and at corner exit was cruising speeds… he didnt do anything abnormal. Probably one reason why it has not been examined in an official report or perhaps to save ferrari/vettel from further sahame, they didnt publish it? while not 100% sure, i think ferrari/vettel must have seen /are shown the telemetry by now!

          4. @sakis The reason you see the brake light come on in the graphics is two fold. Firstly, it is a binary indicator – the brake is either on or off, it doesn’t show how much the pedal is being depressed, nor indeed (given it’s a managed brake by wire system) how much braking force is actually being applied.

            Secondly, due to the slow speeds and the desire to get temperature into the tyres, it’s common to overlap brake and throttle to generate additional heat in the brakes (also desired) that will then (hopefully) soak into the tyres.

            The graphics can’t show that this is the case. But it is a likely explanation given complaints from many (including Hamilton) about tyre temperatures. There’s certainly nothing there that doesn’t have a reasonable explanation. The telemetry the stewards have access too WOULD show whether or not that’s the case. I would assume that they would have looked at the telemetry as a standard part of investigating Vettel.

            In short, I think the brake indicator you see is just from Hamilton trying to get some heat into his tyres.

        3. @sakis:
          Brake testing is when a driver suddenly applies the brakes hard. When Lewis’ brake light first comes on he’s just past the marker board on the left and doing 95km/h @30% throttle. He lifts off the throttle then gives it a little squirt (about 20%), releasing the brake for three frames shortly after – at this point he’s doing 93km/h. He then lets the throttle go entirely and keeps the brake on so that as he enters the corner he’s at 71km/h. He then releases the brake and applies a very small amount of throttle (possibly a bit over 10%) as he coasts to the apex. Just before the apex he’s doing 66km/h and reapplies the brake, dropping the throttle to zero. He keeps the brake engaged through the rest of the corner until he leaves it at 51km/h, at which point he releases the brake. He then coasts with both throttle and brake off and increases speed a bit down the incline so that when Vettel first hits he’s doing 53km/h.

          All the braking Lewis applied happened well before the incident, and the vast majority happened on the entrance to the corner. There was no sudden braking on the exit. But neither was there the acceleration that Vettel was mistakenly counting on. This incident was purely a result of Vettel’s miscalculation. It may be normal to accelerate on the exit of a corner, but Lewis was under absolutely no obligation to do so, and slowing down to a steady speed which you then maintain certainly doesn’t constitute brake-testing.

          1. @charleski This is a nice interpretation of the incident. And to tell you the truth, I would have done the same thing that Vettel did. I’d expect acceleration there, so my reaction would have been instinctive. But I guess the leader is in total control of the pace under SC status, which Vettel already knows, so he was just looking for non existent excuses for his error.

            Just out of curiosity, what would have been sudden braking with the numbers we have here? 95 to what on the first hit of the brakes or (most importantly) 66 to what on the second? Do the rules mention anything about percentage or they just say “sudden”? I really want to know because if this is open to interpretation, then the “war camps” set here between VET and HAM fans are absolutely justified, considering that there is no actual official report from FIA.

          2. @sakis:
            From wikipedia, an F1 car can brake from 100km/h to 0 in 15m, which would take 1.08 seconds. In comparison, Lewis brakes from 95 to 50km/h over almost 3s. So for an F1 car this would count as a pretty gentle deceleration.

    6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79D0axLDw30

      @danseb minute 1:20 it is the official F1 youtube channel, I think that should work, surely better than nothing

    7. The issue is Vettel’s loss of self-control. Not yet another racist-inspired conspiracy theory against Hamilton.

      1. Luis de la garza
        28th June 2017, 15:51

        Well David, I really hope that you are right. I just can’t imagine if it was HAM doing the hit and run “tantrum”. He would be crucified by his haters.
        It’s not a conspiracy, maybe a fact

        1. Luis, sorry if I wasn’t very clear, I meant that the conspiracy theory centres on the idea that Hamilton deliberately slowed down or brake-tested Vettel and this is being covered up by FIA etc. I’m not questioning that some people are motivated to attack anything he does simply out of racism. That indeed is a fact. The responses below some of the YouTube clips of the incident make that sickening clear.

    8. This complaining about Hamilton slowing down after a corner not being expected behaviour nonsense has got to stop.

      Under normal race conditions, yes, slowing down after a corner would be unexpected, but this happened under safety car conditions. Under safety car conditions a driver must be prepared to stop at any point.

      Yes, the safety car lights were out, but it’s still not race conditions until they cross the safety car line. It is perfectly reasonable to expect the lead car to slow at any point, to allow the safety car to make good its escape and to bunch the pack.

      Think about it, even if he slowed on the straight, somewhere in the queue somebody would’ve likely been in the middle or exit of a corner and end up slowing down. It would just move the same effect back down the grid. Drivers should be prepared for this eventuality. Vettel simply made a mistake and then overreacted.

    9. Even that clip clearly shows Hamilton did NOT brake test Vettel. So what on earth is your point still?

      Hamilton is allowed to dictate the pace and he does just that. Nothing sudden at all.

  4. That noxious British stereotype of the ‘cheating German’ was just too tempting for many.

    Exactly the same case as Rosberg.

    1. Yes but Rosberg tempered with Lewis’ car for sure!!

      1. Sundar Srinivas Harish
        28th June 2017, 13:32

        I remember a photo showing Rosberg sneaking into the garage on race day in Malaysia with a wire cutter. Now, if I could only find a guy who is good at photoshop…

    2. Day 3 and same article written differently, lets see how this goes, there are 8 days before FP1 in Austria, wonder how many articles can be squeezed out.

      Maybe next article will be about anger management therapists that have worked with sports people who can help Vettel,
      “Dr Evil says I can tame Vettel’s anger issues” or

      “Norbert Vettel rejects his son has anger issues” or

      “Webber see this as what he highlighted while at Redbull” Lol!

      It’s endless if they want to continue.

      1. @rockie

        same article written differently

        That’s nowhere near close to being true. This is on Vettel’s temperament, yesterday’s was about the detail of the restart procedure:

        https://www.racefans.net/2017/06/27/why-hamilton-had-to-slow-the-field-more-during-that-controversial-restart/

  5. Anele (@anele-mbethe)
    28th June 2017, 12:09

    My goodness just stop already. Lewis isn’t a saint either or and I like them both. You’ll probably be speaking about this even after he wins the championship this year😉

    1. ‘Lewis isn’t a saint’

      Don’t try and lumber Hamiltons hard racing, under racing conditions, into the same pot as Vettel swerving into someone under Safety Car conditions.

      In Spain Vettel raced hard, pushing Hamilton out wide, this is was Hamilton does, and this is fair hard racing. That has NOTHING to do with what happened in Baku.

      1. Anele (@anele-mbethe)
        28th June 2017, 15:31

        So when he ran into the back of Kimi in 2008 Canada was that just racing hard and steering into to a fellow title challenger? And I said I like them both! but the way Lewis often pushed nico of the track wasn’t nice to see

        1. What has Canada 2008 got anything to do with this?

          That was obviously a mistake, (Raikonnen was parked at a red light in the pit lane, which Hamilton didn’t notice and ran into him (Rosberg also ran into the back of Hamilton as well)). It was not (in the case of Vettel) a deliberate act to hit him in a moment of road rage. Hamilton got a 10 place grid drop at the next race, interestingly.

    2. Fukobayashi (@)
      28th June 2017, 12:52

      As much as it pains the detractors, Lewis is a hell of a clean and fair racer these days.

      1. Since Rosberg retired you mean?

        1. Fukobayashi (@)
          28th June 2017, 15:37

          @petey84 you mean the guy that purposefully binned a lap at Monaco to ensure pole? or hit his teammate and was publicly lambasted by his team after Spa? Or went straight on at the final chicane at Canada to keep Lewis behind, or crowded his teammate off the track whilst de-rating in Barcelona 16 taking them both out? Nah mate. I mean since 2012, not since Rosberg retired thanks.

          1. You missed the Austria forget how to turn right moment @offdutyrockstar

          2. @offdutyrockstar, also forgot how to deal with “waved yellow flags getting ready to stop” in Hungary

      2. it to Rosberg!

      3. Anele (@anele-mbethe)
        28th June 2017, 15:32

        @offdutyrockstar One thing that I’ve noticed is he doesn’t swear over the radio and often stays calm it’s a quality I admire but at the end of the day all drivers like people are different

        1. Although he did show Gutierrez the middle finger one after trying to lap him. Generally though, I feel that in the car, Lewis is aware that radio messages can be heard by young fans and refrains from using bad language. The worst I’ve heard him say is “fricking”.

    3. You’ll probably be speaking about this even after he wins the championship this year😉

      @anele-mbethe The future doesn’t have context without its history😉

  6. Thought the ‘ping pong’ remark was about riccardo at spain

    1. Indeed!
      And in neither case did his radio comment appear ‘highly strung’. There are better examples available…

    2. Yes, indeed, it was. @crookeymonster

  7. Yeah, the British press are terrible (no revelation there) – I just pay them no attention when it comes to stuff like this!
    IMHO – of course what Vettel did was wrong, he deserved the punishment and maybe more, but a part of me loves that he did it (given that there were no serious ramifications – damage, injury, etc. – of course) – It was a little dangerous but I’m sure he knew at that speed and wheel to wheel it would only serve to show how he felt, without being dangerous?! (maybe)
    I get bored of the whinging and whining that constitutes a good driver rivalry these days, nice to see a bit of passion, some red mist and conflict out there, I hope this runs throughout the season and beyond! – part of me was wondering whether someone might cash in and get them on the Mayweather/McGregor undercard driving dodgems!! lol ;)

    1. +100000000
      F1 is becoming like Italian Football

      1. … or Top Gear

    2. Luis de la garza
      28th June 2017, 16:00

      Hahaha….now its called passion. I would call it stupidity, inmaturity and being disrespectful. Would you let him do another tantrum in the name of “passion”
      Now road rage its called passion. Nice.
      It is entretaining but it can become dangerous.

      1. Well Senna did exactly the same maybe more dangerous 1990. Suzuka and I like it. Was that road rage or attempt to kill Prost hmmm…? Interesting…

        1. Only blinded fans would say Senna was a nice person.

      2. Yeah Luis, I did say it was wrong and he should be punished, I just think that as a result of it we got to see a real fight out there, and no I don’t want to see more of the same, it could be dangerous – I just think that as a result we will have a real rivalry that will get pretty heated – and that would be nice to see

    3. What is this “British Press” people keep talking about? The BBC is by far the most popular source of f1 news and I see none of this there, I’m fairly sure f1 fanatic must be in the top 3, so is autosport really that bad?

    4. Die Welt – Vettel goes crazy, a long-running tradition.

      “Vettel’s unfair manoeuvre against Hamilton was no one-off, he has a history of losing it in the cockpit”

      Guess you’re going to have to add the German press to your list of those biased against Vettel.

  8. Those episodes of temper are Vettel’s worst enemy in an otherwise good bloke. No excuses at all for last Sunday’s incident but unfortunately this has provided enough fuel for the already heavily biased British F1 media personnel (with a few notable exceptions like someone going by the intials KC ;)) to last this entire season and the next. If he so much as looks at someone cross-eyed, they’ll put a swastika armband on him.

    1. I’ve heard Pastor Maldonado is also a decent chap out of the car… but…

      1. If he is on the net as well even @frasier (who I wonder how he drives) might be bettered!

        On a more serious note there’s a difference between totally seeing how a guy did a totally wrong thing for no real (good, actual, valid) reason, and hating said guy for the bloody sake of it like Jackie Stewart sometimes seems to towards Hamilton.

    2. @loup-garou I also have a high opinion of Karun Chandhok.

      1. I also have a high opinion of Karun Chandhok.

        LOL!

  9. I’ve yet to comment on the whole incident as I was gathering my thoughts, but clearly there are two parts to it: The initial contact and the retaliation.

    The initial contact
    To my mind there was no deliberate “brake-check” from Hamilton. He was the leader of the pack and thus dictates the pace. He wasn’t unreasonably slow and it’s on the driver behind (in this case Vettel) to avoid running into him. Running behind the Safety Car means drivers will swerve, speed up, slow down regularly to keep temperatures up. Here I see it as a misunderstanding with no major harm done. There was no intent from either driver.

    The retaliation
    They were running behind the Safety Car… the operative word here being “Safety”… I can’t see how by pulling up alongside his rival and gesticulating, Vettel had his mind on safety. The Safety Car often means that there are marshalls on track and you should be prepared to stop. Therefore I would penalise Vettel, even before what happened next. To make contact with Hamilton again under the Safety Car is absolutely outrageous. It doesn’t matter how low the speed was – it was a deliberate action that I would expect from someone like Maldonado… never a 4-time World Champion. Personally I think he needs a race ban.

    Please note – I am no fan of either of the drivers involved!

    1. Having said that… Formula One is built on controversy and drama… and we’ll remember what happened this weekend in 25 years time…

    2. the operative word here being “Safety”… I can’t see how by pulling up alongside his rival and gesticulating, Vettel had his mind on safety.

      I would not focus on that part. Because leaders are allowed to drive pretty much whatever way they want disregarding the ramifications down the field since the track is not dangerous anymore. If anything, it’s actually the best time (if you can call it that!!!) to make contact because it’s expectedly low speed under SC conditions but there are no real safety concerns anymore at that point.

    3. I think all of the drivers are focusing on the restart once race control initiates the restart process: the safety car in this lap message, lights on safety car go out, lead driver dictates the pace etc., which is when the incident occurred. They all know that this process will not be started if there are still stopped cars or marshalls on track.

    4. @ben-n So drivers are allowed to swerve and brake as they wish to build heat up in the tires but when Vettel pulled alongside Hamilton, he disregarded safety for the marshalls who might have been there?

      Surely both can’t be true?

      1. Drivers controlling the temperature of their brakes and tyres isn’t random, it’s a tightly controlled technical and driving skill. If a driver is weaving to increase the temperature of his tyres, not only can he stop in a very short space, he can also negotiate any obstical that his team have informed him of well in advance. Same with accelerating and braking to control his brake temperature, they know exactly where and when they can and cannot do it.

        Vettel obviously knew the safety car was pitting that lap, so it’s reasonable to assume he knew that there were no marshals on track, but especially in a venue with only one year experience behind them, I would rather the drivers didn’t make such assumptions. That aside, I personally do believe he was in full control of his actions, I think wheel to wheel was absolutely deliberate, I think he acted through anger and lost control, but not completely, just enough to think this was OK to do, or not care in that moment for the consequences

  10. Thanks Keith
    Would it be at all possible for you to provide a link to where you state “F1fanatic understands from the FIA… did nothing unusual… nothing he was wasn’t allowed to do in his role… “.
    I understand you must be very busy but such a link might clear up the situation for some of us.

    1. Just a thought but did Vettel actually get his nose in front of Hamilton during the period of gesticulation? That might be deemed to be overtaking under the safety car or overtaking before the safety car line.
      Just a thought.

      1. Yes he did, by an inch or so, technically ahead, but I expect this would be part and parcel of his dangerous driving penalty

  11. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    28th June 2017, 12:34

    I think the case is fairly clear cut, you’ve got to be extremely pro Vettel, anti Hamilton or just a contrarian to see it differently. This type of behaviour should be condemned.

    1. Quite so, it’s not worth commenting on the posts of the seriously blinkered, it just encourages them.

    2. @rdotquestionmark – Totally agree. Objectivity always works best, even when we are fans of one driver or the other, or both.

      Those so certain there was a brake check that somehow justified a deliberate and dangerous retaliation really miss the point on two counts.

      First, why would Hamilton brake check Vettel and risk his own car being damaged or completely disabled while leading the race and being behind in the WDC points? Too much to lose, it makes no sense. Other drivers, Ricciardo I believe, have said so themselves that it makes no sense to brake check anyone in that situation. Why would you? Simply pay attention and do not run into the car in front of you. This is a reasonable expectation for someone who is considered one of the best drivers in the world with far better skills than the rest of the 7.5 billion of us.

      Second, do we really wish to see drivers retaliating against other drivers using their cars as weapons for any perceived or actual wrongdoing? I do not wish for that at all. Passion is one thing. Win the race with passion. Destructive uncontrolled anger is another. This is why Vettel should have received a black flag and/or a race ban. I’ve seen demolition derbies. That is not what I want to see in Formula 1. YMMV

      – Disclaimer: I like and admire some things about both of these drivers. Don’t have any axe to grind against either one. I wish them both well and think they are both great F1 drivers in their own right.

      1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
        28th June 2017, 22:22

        👍

  12. Is yet another Vettel article necessary? It feels done to death now.

    1. It’s always difficult to strike a balance when there’s a story like this one which commands a lot of attention. In this case I felt this angle had got little or no attention so far.

      But it’s not as I’m focusing on this story to the exclusion of all else. The Predictions Championship results and Star Performers have both gone up already today, and at the moment I’m finishing off something else on another topic which should go up tomorrow.

      1. I should’ve said maybe “done to death in the media” as F1Fanatic is pretty balanced.

        It will be very interesting to see the fallout from this, how the saga unfolds, and see what the drivers and senior F1 figures think. There have been some interesting opinions voiced in the aftermath – most notably I guess that of Toto Wolff, almost humorous with “They are warriors! In the race you are at war!”, while Ferrari are continuing their policy of keeping schtum, and the usual rumblings have emerged from Jacques Villeneuve and (it seems) Helmut Marko and Bernie Ecclestone.

      2. @keithcollantine I must admit that after reading your article, I felt this was the first unbiased article out there especially in the British media ( Well Others had moved on anyway after Sunday) . Thanks and Kudos to you for keeping a clean line and sanity around this frenzy…..

        To me the one who emerged the worst from the whole event on Sunday……. “The British Media” . Vettel did something wrong. He got punished. Lets move on. But oh no… How can we move on ? Lets write reams and reams of article filled with hate and morality lectures while boring the readers to death.

        I mean there are a ton of things to write Like for example “Daniel Ric Won the Race….. ” Does anybody even remember that ? I mean the bloke crashed on Saturday, went to the back of the grid on Sunday, Manged to put things together, made a great restart and grabbed an great opportunity (as always) that presented itself to him. Well That was worth remembering more than the incident. A young fella named Stroll made it to the podium, Bottas recovered from last and grabbed second at the finish line. But well we will not speak about all that… We will whine to eternity because there is a bad german out there.

        To me the race was fun. It had its fair share of Karma for everyone. Mercedes and Ferrari had moved on. Lets move on to the next race . well the British Grand Prix…. where Of course after this build up Vettel would be booed, disrespected and made to look like he was responsible for all things wrong about the whole world……

        For me while watching the race, a small contact, a light wheel Banging and a decent penalty et all is all part of F1 that makes it interesting. Otherwise if we all want a gentlemanly game then lets get a lot of chauffeurs ( No disrespect to the profession whatsoever ), have them wear a nice designer suit and make them drive like a fine gentleman taking his lady for a first date !!!!!!! I bet if Lewis had won the race without the headrest incident, it would have been perceived a smaller incident overall.

        Now for the safety car thing. For the life of me I never felt comfortable about the whole safety car restarts with F1. To be honest I felt the whole safety car was unsafe. I watch NASCAR and Indy, but never felt so uncomfortable about the Safety car. Maybe it is because F1 is a road circuit or whatever. Maybe FIA and the press needs to scrutinize if those rules need some changes to make the whole thing better.

        Last but not the least drama queen Lewis Hamilton commenting post race “disgrace” , “what will children think”.. Seriously what will children think…. Oh the Moral High Ground….. Please for god sake don’t try to look for reasons. As a father of 2 , I can tell what children think when they see it…..

        I enjoyed it, I felt the punishment fit the crime. I guess we should all move on……

    2. Is yet another Vettel article necessary? It feels done to death now.

      Oh no, as far as the British F1 media are concerned, the fun is just starting. From now onwards, every race that Vettel wins will be “undeserved” and they will lose no opportunity to bring up his admittedly stupid action in Baku. And every race that Hamilton fails to win will be somehow Vettel’s fault. You just wait and see.

      1. @loup-garou Unfortunately you are not wrong, and we will hear it first from David Croft

        1. Unfortunately you are not wrong, and we will hear it first from David Croft

          You bet. I can see him and quite a few others sending Vettel caskets of wine in gratitude for keeping them on their jobs.

    3. Well, if the reports that FIA may well impose a further penalty on Vettel are correct, the story is clearly ongoing.

      FIA really can’t claim to be an effective voice for road safety if it endorses road rage from one of its top competitors. A ten second penalty was effectively endorsement. It needs to act quickly and impose a race ban.

    4. I wonder how many articles have been written about Jerez. Or how many have been written about Senna/Prost and their adventures. Maybe the “Vettel Vengeance” does not quite rise to the same level, but it certainly had the possibility of being catastrophic and it is fresh, not in the somewhat distant past. So, likely more articles will be written and maybe even more chapters to come…

  13. Let Vettel just be Vettel. We have enough fake people in the sport as it is right now.

    1. We have enough fake people in the sport as it is right now.

      @spafrancorchamps Care to elaborate?

      1. Definitely kimi has a reputation for being so…

    2. @spafrancorchamps

      We have enough fake people in the sport as it is right now.

      The implication here seems to be that Vettel has more integrity for losing self-control and crashing into Hamilton than a driver who doesn’t so something as reckless. If that is what you mean, I completely disagree.

      1. @keithcollantine

        What is surprising is you were all gidi two races ago comparing Hamilton to Senna his hero when he matched his pole record a man who deliberately went out on a race track not to race but take his opponent out.

        Now same Hamilton himself has said he would invoke a Senna on the race track against Rosberg but thats ok.

        Now Vettel was wrong and punished but the way the english media has been dragging this is beyond comedy skyf1 had a young driver on to prove the young can be influenced by his actions.

        1. @rockie To be fair though I think the FIA moved like ASAP to ban Suzuka 1990 moves afterwards. I’m not exactly well-informed on Jerez 1997 though

  14. I think based on interviews with drivers (aside from Hamilton) and other F1 people (including Todt himself), this incident is not as big an incident for them as it is for the press that loves the clicks lol. There are articles getting served out there with pretty much no new content and the same repetitive stuff that they copy from each other. (This place is still doing rather well compared to others I’d say…) And social media of course loves to keep talking about anything and everything until most of them get bored in any case.

    1. Well, the press (but also blogs, podcasts etc.) benefit from controversy as it generates traffic and clicks. The media aren’t just impartially reporting what happens, they are often, and intentionally, willing enablers of controvesy and sometimes even instigators.

    2. The article has a good point though. One which I made myself too, so of course it’s a good point :)

      When Vettel rammed into Webber during Turkey 2010, it cost him an easy win and 25 points. In the end Alonso and Ferrari messed up during the last race, but it was very close and Vettel could just as easily have lost the championship that season because of these temper tantrums.

      1. @patrickl – It is a good point and the possibility certainly exists that Vettel could cost himself the championship this season with this tantrum.

      2. Yeah that one incident not the engine failure while leading at South Korea, it was the collision at Turkey!

  15. As long as he does get a race ban he will still think in his mind that all the paddock owes him something as a four times world champion, IMO he should be race banned and fined for his behaviour, FI were fined for a much less offence.

  16. Wind your neck in, Keith. Otherwise Vettel’s going to sort you out!!!

    1. But only on track, so far. Can Keith get an F1 drive, is his dad a billionaire I wonder?

  17. Can someone make a video montage of the incident with the words “ping” at the time of first contact, “pong” at the time of the second and then cut the scene to Hamilton’s on-board and put a speaking balloon when he raises his hand with the word “blessed”??

    My talents don’t go that far unfortunately

    1. Sundar Srinivas Harish
      28th June 2017, 13:44

      Shoehorn a #keepfightingmicheal somewhere, and this would be worthy of Buzzfeed! :P

  18. It gives the impression that a new strain of desperation is at work in Vettel. It’s as if going four years without a world championship have driven him to heights of agitation in the cockpit which he can’t quite control.

    I remember in early 2012 when he threw multiple insults at Karthikeyan after the two came together in Malaysia, although Karthikeyan was blamed for the incident many did feel that Vettel’s name calling was uncalled for. Perhaps this side of Vettel has always lurked in the background and has only shone through when things are not going his way?

    However as the article alludes to, most top drivers have lost their heads when the going got tough including Alonso’s spats with McLaren in 2007 and Hamilton’s multiple moments of madness in 2011, this may well be the time where Vettel’s strength of character is truly placed under rigid examination.

    1. I think we saw some of this even in 2009 already Haribo. In my view, what not helped at all, was that Vettel was taken in as a relevation by the whole team, including Marko from the start (see how they reacted to Turkey vs. Webber). Had the good Dokter Marko sat him down after the first incident to make clear that he might be the prodigee, but not untouchable, he might have gotten “corrected” in time. By now, it will be hard to make him change his ways.

  19. What is the point of this article? You seem to try and justify yourself at the beginning by making out that this kind of media bashing is merited. You have always appeared impartial to topics in the past so why now are you chiming in with your biased opinions now? Not to mention throughout the whole article there are endless opinions (not facts) that are either inaccurate or based on one sided views.

    For the impartial among us its clear what happened, the way Hamilton drove was provocative and was asking for trouble, Vettel got caught out by this and made contact, visibly damaging his car in the process with section of front wing flying off, he took exception to this and drove along side, making his feelings known by hand gestures then initiating contact. Stewards are aware of EVERYTHING that went on and penalized Vettel for initiating contact, and seemingly didn’t investigate Hamilton for brake check (Although you seem to think the FIA issued proof that he didn’t break check Hamilton, but wheres the source of the quote?) And that was the END of the matter. Incident happen and was dealt with. Move on.

    There is no Vettel feeling under pressure, on the back foot, desperation and out of control nonsense you are spouting. There is no Ferrari on the back foot due to oil as fuel investigation. The whole weekend pace can be summed up by who could make the Tyre compounds work and who could not. From what I remember, Hamilton was behind Vettel for the remainder of the race in close proximity and was unable to overtake, so if Mercedes were that much quicker it would have been a breeze past on the straight.

    1. And, after reading the article again, why must ‘Vettel must cut out the temper tantrums’ and ‘Arrivabene do the tap on the shoulder’

      Last I checked he was leading the championship.

      1. @thedoctor46 Read the penultimate paragraph of the article. You’ll find the answer there.

      2. because he won’t be when he rightly gets a 3 race ban ;)

      3. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, just as you have given yours, and this is Keith’s blog and he has stated before the start of the article that it is his ‘Comment’. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Keith chiming in with his opinion whenever he feels like it. Being his opinion it is of course biased toward how he feels on the subject. Fair game. And as usual he has left us free to discuss it. He allows every post that fits within the code of conduct parameters, whether they agree with his opinion or not.

        1. I agree. It is actually good to see exactly where he stands on the matter for future reference.

          The article is tarted up though to the extreme when he starts reading into this as frustrations from not winning a championship in 4 years, or can’t handle the pressure at Ferrari.

          1. @thedoctor46 So do you think this kind of behaviour we’ve seen from Vettel recently is a new development or do you see it as no different from the type of thing we’ve seen earlier in his career?

    2. There was nothing ‘provocative’ about his driving what-so-ever, as explained in the article, he was backing the pack up more because of how marginal it was on the first SC when he was close to catching it up. There was nothing erratic about his driving, he was doing what all lead drivers do under SC restarts, they try to warm their tyres and brakes as good as possible, while giving the SC room to disappear off in front.

      Even all this talk of telemetry is nonsensical, you can see off-board from the naked eye that his car was consistent in the moment Vettel stopped paying attention an accelerated into his rear.

      1. I understand he was marginal on the first SC, but why did he start backing up the field at turn 15 when he didn’t actually go until half way down the straight. From comments made by Carlos Sainz, he was driving erratically all the way down the straight (based on the fact that Hamilton was controlling the pace), so much so that he nearly caused more incidents. So saying what he did at turn 15 was to let the SC away doesn’t seem correct.

        https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sainz-calls-for-rethink-of-dangerous-baku-restarts-923530/

    3. + 1 x 10^1000

    4. @thedoctor46 It says ‘Comment’ at the top of the article because this is a comment piece in which I am putting an opinion across.

    5. +1000
      Not to mention that the fastest lap of the race was Vettel’s…totally rubbish comment, and by the way british are the last people to have a talk in this matter since Hamilton is more false and dirty than judas. He can do whatever he wants and always get away scot free, and his teammate has learned the lession very well looking at what happened with Kimi. Vettel did wrong overreacting over a dirty move from Hamilton and got penalized, period. Let’s move on once and for all. And before people comments about the FIA telemetry BS…let the world see this “elusive” telemetry to settle things right. As it is, I don’t believe a word of what they are saying.

      1. You’re wrong bio. Hamilton did nothing wrong. Try again…

        1. Prove it, as of today the visual evidence is that Hamilton slowed down unnecessarily, provoking Vettel’s reaction. The rest, as I already said, is BS.

        2. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sainz-calls-for-rethink-of-dangerous-baku-restarts-923530/

          Here is another driver highlighting an issue with the way the pace was being controlled

          1. Well that’s what happens when they heat up the tyres. Sainz just had trouble seeing what was happening in front and he didn’t realize that Hamilton had to wait a corner longer because he was being rammed by Vettel.

          2. @patrickl I’m pretty sure Sainz was referring to corners 17-20, where Hamilton was continuing to back the pack up on the 2nd restart. About 2km of backing the pack up is a bit unnecessary.

          3. and said he was not blaming the leader for accelerating late.

            “If I were the leader, I probably would’ve done the same,” he said. “It’s not the leader’s fault at all. I think we would all have done the same to avoid the maximum possible slipstream.

  20. Vettel’s rants are nothing new. If something doesn’t go his way and the stakes are high, we can see and/or hear it. It usually wasn’t problematic in 2011, 2013 or 2015 when he was in control of championship or comfortably best of the rest. However it was a completely different story in 2010, 2012 or this year when he is embroiled in a big battle for the title. Strange gestures, constant arm-waving, never agreeing with a penalty. People said he was young, especially in 2010, but last year’s Mexico of this season’s Baku shows little has changed. He was calling Karthikeyan a cucumber or showing Massa the middle finger, a non-champion, a two-time champion or a four-time champion, his behaviour is the same, whether he is 23, 25 or 30.

    1. @michal2009b

      Strange gestures, constant arm-waving, never agreeing with a penalty.

      But none of these things are deliberately hitting another car or breaking the racing rules as we saw in Azerbaijan and Mexico. That’s what’s making it damaging now, surely?

      1. @keithcollantine
        Yes, I was just emphasising they weren’t one-off moments. Now it got a bigger scale, but the symptoms were visible way before Mexico or Azerbaijan.

        1. @keithcollantine
          Yes, I was just emphasising they weren’t one-off moments. Now it got a bigger scale, but the symptoms were visible way before Mexico or Azerbaijan.

          You are right Keith but neither those symptoms nor even the Baku incident would justify demonizing Vettel that has already started and something that the British F1 media and a large portion of the public are going to do in the months to come. Yes, he is hot tempered and he lets that temper override good sense on many occasions but that does not mean that he is the reincarnation of Attila the Hun. Vettel probably knows himself that his knee-jerk reactions are his worst enemy and I hope and expect that the Baku incident and the fallout thereof will enable him to mend his ways to some extent for the rest of his career. He comes across as an intelligent man and great driver otherwise and feel that he deserves another chance. Let us face it, F1 drivers, especially WDCs, of the past have not exactly been angels; what about Hamilton’s hero Senna deliberately crashing into Prost at Suzuka, thereby ensuring the WDC to himself and proudly admitting his actions later? I am definitely not trying to trivialise Vettel’s misdemeanor last Sunday but there should be a limit to the vitriol handed out to him and it has already gone way over the top; no doubt it will get worse. I have always respected your own views and reports but there are plenty others who are not as unbiased. I know you won’t allow me to name them, but you know as well as I do the people who will be rubbing their hands together in glee at this wonderful opportunity that Vettel has given then to get busy with their poisoned pens.

          I definitely condemn Vettel’s stupid actions last Sunday and I hope that he learns a lesson from the fallout that it has generated. But I have to say that despite his flaws, I still feel that Vettel comes across as a more up-front man than Hamilton, whom I have always felt has a sneaky underbelly. Over the pears I have tried to get rid of that feeling but it has only got worse. If we are able to consider it outside the incident, Hamilton’s bleat later in the Baku race to his team to order Bottas to hold-up Vettel so that he, Hamilton, could catch-up and overtake was pathetic to say the least.

          1. It wasn’t pathetic at all. It would have been a perfectly legal tactic if Mercedes wanted to get Hamilton in front of Vettel. It was an unrealistic request from Hamilton, yes, but then he didn’t know that Bottas was racing to take 2nd place. Once he was told that, he didn’t ask again.

  21. Tony Mansell
    28th June 2017, 14:23

    Ha, seems like everyone wants the dicing from the Prost/Senna era but no one wants the nasty stuff. Well, sport/life isn’t like that. Using your car as a weapon is a disgrace in any era but remember that next time you bemoan the lack of spirit in this era compared to the last.

  22. Did someone manage to steal Keith’s F1Fanatic login credentials (and post this article)? :p
    This write-up just doesn’t go well with his unbiased opinion and non-sensationalizing journalism.

    1. @debapriya-deb This is a comment piece. It says so right next to the headline. And it’s not as if it’s the first one I’ve written.

      There’s no such thing as an ‘unbiased opinion’. Unless, perhaps, artificial intelligence starts to get really good.

  23. I just don’t understand….

    Fans: “We want drivers to be passionate, speak out, get angry, have spirit, not be robots!!!!! etc.”

    ‘Driver gets angry’

    Fans: “He has to cut the anger! Enough is enough. What ludicrous behaviour!”

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    1. Haha, well said. We fans like to complain about everything.
      “These tyres don’t allow drivers to push” vs “These tyres are too hard”
      “We want more variety in strategy” vs “We want passing on track”
      “We want teams to be closer in on-track performance” vs “We don’t want such restrictive regulations”
      “There is too much interference by stewards” vs “How could stewards let him off so lightly”

    2. It’s one thing for a driver to get angry, shout on the radio, things like that.

      It’s another completely for one to deliberately drive into another.

      1. @sward28

        It’s one thing for a driver to get angry, shout on the radio, things like that.

        It’s another completely for one to deliberately drive into another.

        Couldn’t have put it better myself.

        1. Except that you used Vettel’s “Temper, temper”, i.e. angry outbursts, as other examples of his “temper tantrums” that he must “cut out”. You can’t have it both ways, Keith.

          1. No you’ve misunderstood: My objection is to the end product of these outbursts – driving his car into Hamilton or the silly move with Ricciardo in Mexico.

        2. @keithcollantine @drmouse I totally understand that Keith, and he has no right to drive into another car whether it’s under green or safety car conditions. I completely agree with you in that sense. I tend to lean to the side of Vettel on this though in that I thought his punishment was enough. I feel like if it wasn’t for Hamilton’s headrest issue and him finishing behind Vettel, the outrage would not be as it is. This is semantics now though, people have been arguing on here for three full days now.

          However, we can’t continually ask these guys to be themselves and show some personality out of one side of our mouth and then out of the other side, criticize them for doing what we asked of them. That move he made on Riccardo in Mexico, is technically legal now. If it were not for the FIA changing the narrative mid-season, something they do quite often, he would not have been penalized (yes I know, the rule came as a result of Vettel/Ferrari voicing their opinion). If he was not so angry with the stewards for choosing not to penalize Verstappen on the spot rather than wait, we may have never got the unforgettable scenes that followed.

          At the end of the day, if we were at a pub I’d buy you a beer and we could chat for hours about. Isn’t that what we all really want? If the race turned out to be a dud, would we still be chatting about it? Probably not. Vettel’s personality adds entertainment value to sport, without the need for gimmicks or reverse grids.

      2. Yes, it was deliberate but at the same time an unwarranted knee-jerk reaction for which the said driver has been penalised. Let us hope that he leans a lesson and moves on; so should we.

      3. This used to be acceptable when Vettel was a kid watching F1. Most pundits in those days quoted “I would have done the same”

    3. So you cannot distinguish between someone getting angry and someone lashing out?

    4. @sward28 – Passion for racing will help a driver give it his all to win a race.

      Uncontrolled anger is destructive. In Vettel’s case this time, mostly self destructive, but it could have easily been worse.

  24. https://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2011/08/maldonado-punished-for-spat-with-hamilton/
    https://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2012/07/maldonado-escapes-with-small-fine-and-reprimand-after-perez-collision/

    There’s a precedent for dealing with issues like this. No race ban for Maldonado in either incident. The issue has been dealt with by the stewards, so that should be the end of it tbh.

  25. Vettel won his World Championships as a good driver.
    He still is a good driver…..but recent incidents including telling Charlie where to go(and he got away with that one) and last weekend with Lewis (who clearly has him rattled)….means he is a bully now as well….
    I think the stewards are afraid of him.

    1. I particularly enjoyed that as the stewards saw blatant cheating and did nothing about it as far as I’m concerned and F1 was worse for it that day, giving Max a penalty and then Vettel later which could have been avoided if the stewards had just done their job at the right time!

  26. Charlie Whiting’s actions or lack of in the Mexican Grand Prix would of tested a Saint.
    Clearly and undeniably he was wrong and I am not surprised SV was miffed.

  27. @keithcollantine I understand, my point is why does this incident merit an article of such nature? I don’t think its the biggest thing ever to happen in F1 history like some are making out.

    Forgive me, but I have not seen an article like this before where you are so opinionated, which gives me the impression of you just taking the welcome opportunity to write another British based take on the matter.

    1. bloggers gonna blog. What else are you going to write about on a Wednesday during an off week with this going on? The fact that this entry sums up the thoughts of about 90% of the comments so far this week makes me think you’re reading too much into the British bias. It’s just fresh content.

    2. The championship leader running into a competitor during a SAFETY car situation while irately gesturing with his hands and yet you don’t think that’s something to discuss?

      Besides that, the point is what if Vettel loses the championship by less than 13 points. Since he could easily have avoided this loss of points. Also it’s not the first time he does things like this in a moment of rage which cases crashes and point loss. So it’s a good angle to write an opinion about.

      1. @patrickl

        I fully agree here, if such an incident doesn’t warrant a special article, I don’t know what would..

      2. Vettel grew up seeing his hero *win* championships by ramming another driver and regularly doing it for extra points. I’m surprised it’s taken this long and I’m surprised fans are surprised.

  28. His temper is a weak point, what he did last sunday was inherently stupid, and things like this will hurt himself. He rightfully received a penalty which he can’t complain about.
    But do we really want him to cut it? I’d say no. Temper tantrums have allways been a wonderful source of stories and entertainment in sport, and especially so in motorsport. And stories, alongside good scandals, is what is increasingly missing in modern F1, that’s why it’s often so cold and bland. Back in the day, we had the FIA-president (yes, I’ve begun to miss Balestre) throwing temper tantrums during races, and it was glorious. Mansell, Alesi, Senna, Piquet, Hunt, they all had temper tantrums that still occasionally entertain people decades later, that get written about in books and blogs. Team bosses (Paul Stoddart, Luca di Montezemolo) occasionally added to the mix as well.
    Of course, the temper tantrum shouldn’t be all, we need someone in the field doing Berger-style over the top practical jokes, too. And Briatore plotting something. While I’m at it, we should also really get rid of the Contract Recognition Board and be a whole lot more flexible with sudden changes of cockpit with and without agreement of (some of) the included parties. Make F1 a bit more lively again.

  29. Vettel is a great potlitician.
    He invented a history and keep repeating it so his fans or Hamilton detractors could cling on to something.
    His distortion of reality is completly absurd and a complete disgrace. Facts are facts, and deniyng them don’t make them real. Well, for some it makes, apparently.

  30. I tell my son often that the hardest and most important part of becoming a man is learning how to control one’s emotions, particularly anger. I also have noticed that a lot of men seem to go through similar experiences at roughly the same time, and men in their early 30s often strike me as particularly angry. Vettel is 29.

    All of which is to say that I wonder if Vettel isn’t experiencing a rough patch of road in his life at the moment that he needs to get through and learn how to handle before it further impacts his career and the cars around him.

  31. If the stewards viewed Hamilton’s driving behind SC was ok then it was ok, then they deemed a 10s stop and go penalty on Vettel sufficient then it was. In the end we don’t get to decide.

  32. We are into the thousands in the number of comments on this site since Sunday. Question: Has anyone out there changed his mind about this incident after reading any of these comments?

    1. Great post. I know I haven’t. I still think LH had at least a small role to play in this, as something convinced SV he had been brake tested. SV’s next move to go alongside LH and whack him was him taking it too far, but I’m satisfied that the stewards got the penalty toward him right…ie. I don’t think it was the crime of the century. As per Keith’s commentary it will be interesting to see how SV is, going forward. He no doubt will have had that tap on the shoulder to take him aside and have a chat, but who knows right now if he defiantly feels he was wronged still, or if he has decided he indeed took it too far. Will be so interested if we hear more from SV on this that will give us a clue as to his mindset at the time, and now, away from the heat of the moment.

      1. Look at some of Vettels and honestly say that he never slows down? It’s a normal thing they need to do to get some space between themselves and the safety car.

        Maybe start with this one:
        http://www.planetf1.com/news/sutil-vettel-slowed-the-pack-too-much/

        Or how about when Vettel slowed down when he wasn’t even allowed to? Twice! (first in China and then again in Hungary)
        https://www.racefans.net/2010/08/01/webber-grabs-hungary-win-after-vettel-blunder-hungarian-grand-prix-review/

        1. Don’t need to see those examples. It is not a question of what SV has done in the past, or any other driver. This is about what happened last Sunday, and I just remain curious as I’m sure many do as to whether SV himself will have changed his mind by now or will he still feel, away from the heat of the moment, that LH did something wrong. I’d like to think that if SV simply made a mistake, he would not have flipped out and would have owned it immediately.

  33. My gosh, Get over it and move on.

    Vettel was penalized. The fact that he was able to still beat Hamilton on track must really be a sore spot to the Hamilton faithful.

    Maybe direct some of that anger towards an article about Mercedes causing Hamilton to pit 1 too many times and costing him a victory.

  34. At least Vettel only lost his head: Hamilton lost his headrest.

    1. Haha! :)

    2. almost ;)

  35. I actually disagree with the piece. These tantrums add a bit of personality to Vettel in my opinion.

  36. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
    28th June 2017, 17:41

    I think we have long observed that Vettel has rather cumulative emotions. When things are going well, such his nine race winning roll in 2013, he teams his affable off-track persona with a devastating performance level on the circuit. When things are going badly, such as last year, he is tetchy and monosyllabic off-track and prone to blue flag and Verstappen-induced meltdowns on-track.

    But this not only ascended to an entirely new level of unacceptability, it didn’t fit the pattern. Yes, the result in Canada was disappointing but it certainly was a recovery he could be proud of, and coming into the weekend he reiterated just what an excellent season the Scuderia is having. The pace deficit in qualifying was certainly troubling (albeit some of that could certainly be attributed to a older spec of powerunit), but some early carambolage put him back in full contention under Hamilton’s rear-wing. Q.E.D. there was no reason for Vettel’s Dr Jeckyll to even be in the venue, let alone lead him to a moment of such indefensible madness.

    I have nothing but respect and admiration for the way in which Vettel applies himself to his sport whilst remaining a candid and good-humoured ambassador for F1 off-track, so I would expect nothing less than a full confession and apology from Sebastian.

  37. Keith , Stop it ! Really . A temper tantrum ? You don’t know what a temper tantrum is and you and perhaps many F1 fans particularly those in England where apparently Hamilton can do no wrong and Vettel can do nothing right need to recognize what the world of auto racing and of sport as a whole really is. It is populated with great athletes who are charged with testosterone and raw emotion. It is what make them rise to greatness ,it is what gives us great performances and it should not me stifled in the name of afternoon tea time and unrestrained politeness.
    Watch a US auto race series like NASCAR or any of its off- shoots and to a lesser extent even Verizon and you will see what you see in all MAJOR sports and what you and many F1 fans can’t accept.
    Athletes curse and complain ,all the time and sometimes they fight .
    You want Vettel sanctioned for being an athlete . You are either psychologically a child ( with a ” the world is made of candy ” wish) or have no concept of the passion of sport ( and apparently this is also true of some who write comments for this site ).
    Vettel cursed at the Mexico GP and you are up in arms. he did nothing wrong . If you saw the race you saw Verstappen leave the track and gain an advantage yet race control did and said nothing. Vettel should have cursed, any passionate athlete would do at least that much and yet Vettel is castigated for his words .
    Add to this the fact that his words were directed towards his team not in a public interview. The forums are different .
    Obviously you have never been to a NBA or NFL game . If you had been you would have noticed how often the player curse and complain . The difference is that their words are not picked up and broadcast as are the radio transmissions of the F1 drivers . Those of us who have been close enough to get the true “flavor” of the game hear the “F” this and “F” that and ” I’ll cut your throat..” etc.. It is accepted as part of the contest but, will not be accepted in a post game interview.
    In race radio comments are the same as in – game comments . Different rules and don’t temper the contest by making the participants think before they speak . That is for post game ,public forum broadcasts .
    Further , if you have watched these and other major sports you know that player will sometimes fight . I bring that up because in NASCAR and most forms of US auto sport where a driver feels that he has been wronged he will take the matter into his own hands and a fight will occur post race.
    In fact F1 is the only form of auto racing where I have never seen a driver to driver altercation .
    The point being that you and many F1 fans have what can best be called a ” child-like ” view of what sport and auto racing is and should be .
    To me and I would say most and possibly all US based race fans what Vettel has said and done represents nothing actionable and in fact we are surprised that at Baku Vettel did not approach Hamilton post race and throw a punch at him .
    If a driver break-checks another driver ( as Vettel believed Hamilton did ) then a fight should ensue .
    So to you and all of those of similar mind set I say : F1 drivers should start acting like real drivers ,like real men. They risk their lives but, can’t take or throw a punch-really ?
    Stop with the Vettel bashing and as they say,” put on the big boy pants “.
    One more thing, if Raikonnen had punched out Verstappen’s face after Verstappen darn near killed Raikonnen at Spa last year would not Raikonnen have felt better about himself ? Would not you have felt better about F1 ?
    Any real fan of sport and fair play whether man or woman can only answer those questions one way .
    Stop trying to bring Vettel and auto racing into the world of afternoon tea and high fashion .
    You clearly never read Hemingway . Remember : bull fighting, mountain climbing and auto racing !

    1. tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
      28th June 2017, 18:09

      @rikdi, we all enjoy sports in different ways. For me Baku was a great race, Vettel’s tantrum was a pathetic loss of control (which I found extremely childish), but it was all part of the drama. The FIA’s penalty, the timing of it and its leniency was also part of the drama. The post-race furore is also part of the drama. This has been the most interesting race of the season so far, sure some were more satisfying as sporting contests (Spain springs to mind), but this has been hugely entertaining. The FIA is now formally investigating the stewards’ decision in Baku, the fall-out from Baku is set to run and run. Let’s enjoy it.

    2. I got bored after the first line… Hamilton has done plenty of things wrong in the past. No one is saying he hasn’t. They are saying he’s done nothing wrong in this incident, which is true. It’s childlike to want people to fight. Go watch boxing if you want fights. This is F1 I don’t see how you can’t understand that.

    3. Adulthood requires accepting responsibility too. I tend to agree that some excess passion is good all round in sport. But there are limits. Vettel’s action was road rage. People die every day from road rage incidents. A disqualification would have been correct. The FIA stewards bottled it during the race. And FIA knows that. Had they given a DSQ right then, the issue would be more or less over, bar Ferrari complaints. As it is, there are endless discussions over whether it’s right for Vettel to crash into Hamilton, blame the latter, then go after him – road rage style – and swerve into him. Come on. As Hamilton said, want a fight? Do it out of the cars. Frankly road rage on the streets is cowardice, hiding behind a car, knowing the other person may have multiple reasons not wanting to react (kids in the car etc.) Same in the race. Hamilton couldn’t respond without risking his own race. So do us a favour with the macho BS. Vettel only proved he’s a child at times, and exposed a weakness – his fear of losing. He’s also much better than that. His pass on Alonso at Monza a few years ago was one of the best examples of courage I’ve seen in Formula 1. More of that Vettel please. And he needs to accept responsibility for his actions, like all of us.

  38. tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
    28th June 2017, 17:59

    The FIA has launched an official investigation –

    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130449/fia-launches-vettel-baku-investigation

    I hope he’s DQ’d from the Baku results, much better than penalising him in Austria.

    1. I’d say DQ’d with a race ban personally. A big message needs setting here. But it’s the FIA and Ferrari so they’ll probably just take him out for lunch instead.

      1. Then they might as well get rid of the stewards of they are going to undermine them. The incident has been dealt with, they should leave it at that unless they want us to believe that the stewards are completely incompetent in assessing penalties.

      2. While we are at it why not exclusion from the entire season?

      3. Hold on you trying to say that Ferrari have big influence in FiA? Didn’t know that because David Coulthard after killing attempt at SPA 98. nothing happen. Oh boy and what about Senna vs Prost at Suzuka 1990. Ffs what happened??? You have 2 attempt of murder at F1 track that includes Ferrari and possible winning Championship but no FiA = Ferrari.

    2. If Hamilton is called in to give his side of the story, he has a great chance about waxing lyrical (although it may not exactly be melodious to everyone) about the nasty whiplash injury that he has received from Vettel’s bump thus affecting his own performance for months to come.

      1. Grow up.

    3. The last driver to be investigated later by the FIA for a similar offence, admittedly at a higher much dangerous speed, was disqualified from the whole 1997 season.

      1. That situation is not comparable, that was an attempt to influence the championship in the title deciding race, in that drivers favour.

        This incident is more comparable to those of Maldonado, one driver expressing his anger with another, by in this case banging wheels. It was not an attempt to take Hamilton out of the race, push him off track or damage his race. He pulled briefly alongside banged wheels, clearly to make a point to Hamilton, and then immeadiately dropped back behind and resumed driving normally.

        I think a blag flag (disqualification from that particular race) would have been a perfectly reasonable penalty during the race, but to disqualifiy him from the whole season would be a gross overaction.

  39. Vettel did just one thing wrong last weekend. It was a big thing and it was 100% unjustifiable. It was one of the worst things you can do in a race car. Hit other car during safety car period. But apart from that one incident he drove a really strong race. As far as race pace goes he did a solid solid job. He kept hamilton behind him despite the ferrari being the slower car and he was fast when needed.

    He doesn’t need to cut out his temper tantrums. He need to control his explosive temper. Had he done just that he would have rightfully won the last race easily. No matter what kind of shenanigans hamilton pulls off there is never justification to hit back. All you can do is the same kind of on the line moves (or little bit over) that your opposition does and hope fia’s dice is not giving you bad decisions that time. A professiona driver should know exactly how far the rules can stretch and a professional driver should know the rules never stretch that far as vettel needed.

    Had vettel calmly seen through it we all would be talking about now is how he overcome hamilton’s dirty driving and won the gp in comfortable manner. But instead that first incident is almost forgotten because what he did next was so unanimously wrong. It is impossible to be in a position to ask for penalties if you just did something a lot worse.

    In nascar it would have been a good move. Rubbing is racing and showing how you really feel by hitting the other car is inherently nascar. But it is not acceptable in f1. You need to fight it differently. Even if the blind fia would not give penalties to hamilton easily vettel could still have the moral high ground and know that doing what hamilton did is something he could do too in future. He would have that weapon for his use. Now he has too many warning points so he can not play those tricks anymore.

    Vettel needs to stay calm when things really go against him. Last weekend it cost him an easy win. Instead he almost got a race ban. It was not a tantrum. It was his temper. Going off like that is not the right way to solve the issue.

    1. Just because Vettel said he was brake checked doesn’t mean he was correct.
      And the FIA investigated and found it to be untrue. So if Vettel can’t see that he also attacked another driver with his car, how are we sure Vettel is seeing properly to then trust his account of events.

  40. “The second contact was clearly deliberate” Except not.

    Whoever wrote this should probably watch the video before saying nonsense like that. Vettel’s hand was in air when he came alongside and the resultant collision was NOT deliberate, it was an accidental incident.

    1. Guilty of not being in control of the car. Give him a 5 race ban.

      1. Other drivers have forced others off the track at high speeds and that happens every year and they don’t even get a 10 sec drive thru penalty. Maybe start watching F1.

    2. Really?
      Come on.. indeed look at the video.

    3. So his rage meant he lost control of the car? Same effect. Think that excuses you on the road? ‘Sorry judge, I was so busy pulling aside the other motorist and yelling abuse, I lost control of the car and smashed into them.’

      Seriously: why do you people need to excuse Vettel? I’m a Hamilton and Verstappen fan. If either had done the same, I’d be calling for a DSQ or race ban too. He lost it. Such actions need to be penalized appropriately. Where on earth is your issue with that?

  41. Banging wheels at 10 mph is stupid, but not dangerous! I mean let’s not become helicopter F1 parents!
    I do think that Vettel is on edge with the effort he’s making, while Hamilton is more relaxed. This is because Hamilton is, IMO, more of a natural, while Vettel needs to work hard for the win.
    And this edge will add to his temper, he’s doing the maximum and then gets “brake tested” – there’s barely any room for coolness in his head there.
    Having said that, I am more for Seb’s approach, personality and style than Lewis’. He’s not politically correct, he says it straight and does it straight. Lewis is more of a TV personality, and he likes when he’s top of the charts.
    At the end, the swerve was dumb and uncalled for, the penalty was adequate and he threw away a race win because of it – it lesson enough for him.

    1. Well it was at approx 35mph ( somewhere between 50 and 60 km/h)
      But the speed is not the important part.. using the car as a weapon of frustration is plain stupid.
      A black flag was called for. He came out very lucky this time.
      But hey.. it’s a Ferrari he’s driving.

  42. A lot of people on here seem to suffer from the same blindness as sky. It’s kinda sad how the one sidedness shows here. SEB was in the wrong with hitting him but past that everyone is so blind. It’s amazing the things you hear people say when it’s to do with team orders and many other things that Mercedes will do. It will be looked past or somehow explained away but if Ferrari did it omg the worlds ending. Lastly it’s sad that as soon as someone doesn’t agree or is against HAM the race card is played which may be the saddest part of it all. You arnt a racist just bc you don’t fall in line with everything he does says or has happen in a race or even as far as not liking him as a driver and what he does. There will always be real racists out there but people like to throw that word around or try and label someone with it just for having a different point of view. I know I do it at times also but these jumping to conclusions is horrible for everyone. I’m sure I’ll get bashed for this but I feel it’s true.

    1. I don’t understand what exactly you are trying to say.
      But one thing you must realise is that no two situations are exactly the same.
      Vettel made “Two” mistakes in Baku. He hit Hamilton twice the first one we could forgive, but would still have been investigated. The second one was unjustified, because he falsely accused another driver.
      He subsequently failed to acknowledge his mistakes which became a third error. He had been warned regarding his conduct, and his actions have forced the FIA to look into the matter or else they will be showing double standard.
      When Dave Ryan and Hamilton gave false accounts of events, they were disqualified.
      But Vettel by not apologising, not necessarily to Hamilton but to the FIA and the viewers, he brings the sport to disrepute.

      Regarding team orders. Massa had just come back from his almost career ending injury, and was set to win a race, but was ordered to give the win to Alonso.
      Barichello was leading a race but was ordered to give the win to Schumacher. There were many more. The crucial thing, neither of these drivers were struggling for pace. There was no threat from an opposing team. Ferrari just did what Ferrari wanted.
      At Baku, Sauber asked Ericsson to let Wehrlein through, because they were under threat from Vandoorne, and it was safer to let the faster car ahead to secure the point, or maximise the teams points haul. And that, is common sense.

  43. Seems like we have a hero and a villain fighting for the tittle once again, so the media and the passionate fans tell us.

  44. Senna did nothing wrong at Suzuka 1990.!

    1. I’m sorry, what? Even Senna admitted after a period of time that he was in the wrong. Where do you people come from…read more!

        1. @Michael, totally agreed.

  45. I’m glad I watch more than one series of motorsport so I can compare men racing to this whining. Geez, move on

    1. Josh (@canadianjosh)
      28th June 2017, 23:50

      +1

  46. I don’t mind if Vettel gets another penalty even if he’s my favourite driver. It will serve him good.Someone needs to educate these 30 year old children.
    Stewards found nothing wrong with Hamilton’s driving.But they also found nothing wrong in Monaco last year when Lewis cut the chicane in Monaco and failed to give up the place to Ricciardo and In Mexico he cut 2 corners after going off track .He’s in no position to ask a bigger penalty for Vettel.

  47. Josh (@canadianjosh)
    28th June 2017, 23:55

    I am shocked at the majority of posters that wants a 1 race ban. Sebs move was undoubtedly stupid but if Liberty wants more viewers, they should play this rivalry in every PR ad until Abu Dhabi. F1 needs a bad boy and it is Seb, which is good for the sport. Some of you should put away the boring vanilla ice cream and try some chocolate.

    1. I don’t think in the interest of the sport we need to ban Seb, but he has to show some kind of contrition because Vettel instigated and incident then in rage further exacerbated situation.
      Imagine if after haven been rammed from behind, then further swiped from the side, Hamilton had lost is own cool and they both use their cars as weapons.
      Vettel was already in some kind of rage just before the restart which led to him losing focus and making mistakes. He must be called to order quickly in a way that he learns from.

    2. But that’s Liberty only, and they are the commercial rights holders, not the sport’s governing body. The sport is governed by the FIA whose president Jean Todt has been pushing ‘road safety’ very heavily. So to have the leading driver in F1 going slightly ‘ape’ is not what the FIA want to project as their sport.
      You may be right, Liberty may be rubbing their hands at the prospect of increased audience for the next race, but Liberty don’t run the sport.

      1. Josh (@canadianjosh)
        29th June 2017, 12:22

        Yes I guess you are right about the FIA, and I agree with his penalty. I think that should be enough though. Todt should let it be and see what happens in Austria.

    3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      29th June 2017, 13:22

      @canadianjosh I think that one has nothing to do with the other. You can’t let a driver do these things simply because it makes the sport more interesting. Hamilton told the world very politely what he thought about the punishment during the race. The whole way this was handled was unfortunately a disgrace by everyone.

    4. I watch Formula 1 for the combination of skill, controlled aggression and daring. The real flavoursome stuff. Not some man kid literally throwing toys out of a pram. Sadly the world is made up of a very large number of idiots, some of whom will take Vettel’s uncontrolled behaviour as an example of how to act on the road. FIA needs to be serious about this.

      Just man up and take responsibility Seb. Everyone loses it. But after calming down, you have to accept when you do so. I’ve seen players from my favourite football term get red carded plenty of times. Sometimes reacting to a bad tackle or some such. You can understand the reaction, but still agree that a red card has to be given. And other times (like Vettel’s) they’re simply mistaken, thinking they were wronged when they weren’t.

      Twice now Vettel has shown serious disrespect, last year to Whiting over the radio (another case where a ban should have been given) and this time to Hamilton. It’s plain ugly. Vettel thinks he’s above everyone else? That doesn’t make him more real. It simply makes him more pampered.

  48. Ferrari has not had a very competitive car since 2008 and now they have one that is very fast, very reliable, and sturdy, going by how many knocks it took to send Kimi to the pits. And so, the pressure is massive for Vettel to win a championship for Ferrari and prove all the money paid for his services are good value.
    Then again, he has an air of entitlement to the world championship, likewise the race lead, which was why he tried to dictate the pace of the restart from second position.

    Underneath all that youthful smile, there exists a psychological animal that needs to be controlled before he self destructs.

  49. Sounds like a race ban is coming for Mr Tantrums…
    Good.

  50. While what Vettel did in Baku (banging wheels under safety car) cannot be supported, I dont see any cause for him to change either his style or temperament. Everyone cannot be same and drivers with personality are certainly entertaining (so long their intent are not dangerous). I feel the championship has come alive last race and I earnestly hope that this battle goes on till the last race.
    Having said that, I sincerely feel for Max and Fernando. They need to be in this battle at the top.

    1. Josh (@canadianjosh)
      29th June 2017, 12:24

      Comment of the day

  51. I’m constantly amazed on here how many people think Hamilton brake tested or deliberately provoked Vettel during the Baku incident.
    Look, Hamilton isn’t a saint by any means but in all cases you have to remove your emotions towards a particular driver (good or bad) and listen to the people that are in receipt of the cold hard facts……the telemetry. Not only do these people have the telemetry they also have vast experience in F1 and are much more capable of judging the incedent than we all are.
    Unfortunately Vettel’s biggest mistake on Sunday was not accepting he made one. The FIA warned him last year after the Charlie swearing thing that although he got off lightly he should be careful. I hope for the sake of the championship they don’t ban him but the man needs to learn how to behave.

  52. I don’t disagree with this article. I am one of many people who think Vettel has shown an unusual ‘us against them’ mentality for a while now. Whether or not that’s Ferrari, or himself, or maybe not feeling like he gets fair dues, I don’t know.

    What does strike me is the undercooled response from everyone actually involved barring Hamilton. I get the sense that many current and ex-drivers feel that Hamilton, to some extent, had this coming. He’s been the reckless, the dangerous, the arrogant one, not Vettel. I am not excusing Vettel, not in the slightest. Nor am I saying that Hamilton deserved it on this particular instance. But on a balance of things (cumulatively), Hamilton has done worse over the past few seasons, and gotten away with it. I have a feeling that people like Button or Villeneuve, who are pleading to just move on, are actually slightly OK with what happened. If it happens to stop Hamilton’s reign of being able to whatever he pleases, it may well work. This is also emphasised by the two loudest camps right now: English(-language) journalists, and road safety people (Todt and co). Everyone else is just going, well, it happened, he got punished, let him curb his temper. Those making the ridiculous calls for bans or even comparing the incident to Dan Ticktum are so biased and blinded it is beyond belief.
    Personally, this article is bang on. But I would love to see some recognition of Hamilton having it coming.

    1. +1 Completely agree with this. People ask for a championshipfight, when they have one, they all suddenly turn against Hamiltons only rival… Hamilton will not get his championship like a walk in the park anymore because of Vettel. We fans asked for this, we got it. Then we also need to accept that some races might end up like this…

      Only a few sports don’t requier a fight…

    2. Fair comment. Personally I’m still stuck on the concept that something made SV think he was brake tested. Not excusing his intentional whack on LH afterwards, but I am interested to hear more on what made him flip to begin with. We’ve been told LH didn’t literally brake, but surely if he hadn’t slowed nonetheless, to the point where it caught SV off guard, which is usually the intention of the leader when the safety car is about to pull off, I don’t think SV would have blamed anyone but himself. Upon watching the replay I can’t agree that SV simply accelerated prematurely while LH was steady on the throttle. I don’t hear SV accelerating at all before he taps LH from behind. It has been said that LH did three different things on the three different restarts. That’s fine, but also invites things like what happened. As I say SV did an indefensible thing afterward to intentionally sideswipe LH…I just want to know more about why he would flip out, which I can’t see him doing if all that happened was that he had an over enthusiastic throttle foot. I hope the further discussions with him and FIA show that there are two sides to every street, and that his in-race penalty and the 3 points are enough. Let the Championship battle play out on track, not in the boardroom, and especially not in the FIA’s boardroom.

      1. @robbie I think it’s easy in the heat of battle to think a significant slowing is a brake test. Especially with Hamilton, whose SC behaviour is sketchy at best. I think Vettel just got a bit annoyed at the umpteenth time of feeling knocked into the road by Hamilton, of feeling like he wasn’t using his power as lead car fairly, and it got to him. Brake test or not, it can lead to someone going over the top. Doesn’t excuse Vettel, as you say.

    3. A motorsports fan
      29th June 2017, 17:00

      “This is also emphasised by the two loudest camps right now: English(-language) journalists, and road safety people (Todt and co). ”

      Of all people and media i’ve read on this subject, the most critical are actually German media, which are overly embarrassed with Vettel’s demonstration of character and unsportsmanlike behavior. Secondly, even if it were true, it is false logic: Vettel drove into Hamilton before people and media commented on Vettel driving into Hamilton.

      I don’t particularly like Hamilton either. But Vettel can’t just drive into people because Vettel needs to blame someone else for damaging his own front wing all by himself.

  53. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    29th June 2017, 13:37

    I have always considered Vettel to be one of the most dangerous drivers in F1. He’s fine if he’s alone on the track especially if he’s leading the race but he doesn’t do well when there are competing cars around him and or when he’s in contention for podiums or leads. He gets crazy when he thinks that he didn’t get what he wanted (Malaysia 2013, Mexico 2016). Even Horner came on the radio and told him that he was just getting silly and Vettel ignored him. He pushes people off the track at dangerous spots and/or tries to pass without any consideration for the other car’s safety.

    He has zero respect for anyone during the race– that was manifested in his comments towards Mark Webber, towards Horner, towards other drivers like Karthikeyan (the cucumber comment), towards Charlie Whiting last year and towards Hamilton during the race.

    Is there anyone he respects? Not anyone involved in F1 for sure.

    Unfortunately that stems from the fact that he has zero self-respect because no self-respecting person would have acted like this and supported their position afterwards.

    1. Couldn’t disagree more.

  54. As a sebfan, it’s a pitty to see him doing such stuff. I don’t like what he did. However, it’s also a pitty how many people are turning against him. I hope those people know and realise how things can go in a hot cockpit with 200% concentration while sitting uncomfy… It’s a race where you need all your concentration cause of the walls like in Monaco.

    Starting at the back in the next race would be enough IMO, if he gets racebanned 1 time, I would accept it. However any further actions are unacceptable, too harshly and verry childish… If they take this as far as taking away his seat and championship I’ll stop watching F1, simply because it doesn’t make any sence to be so harsh…

    It was just a bump, move on!!!

    1. Ya’ll wanted a championshipbattle between Hamilton and Vettel? You got it, don’t walk away from it. These things can happen. That’s why it’s called a “battle”. If you don’t like this “battle” then go play chess. That doesn’t requier a fight!

    2. The pundits and FIA need to take responsability. Vettel grew up admiring Schumacher’s antics because MS only ever got a slap on the wrist once or twice.

  55. IMO Vettel should try Yoga. That might help to contain those moments of madness that seem to flare-up now and then. Perhaps change his car’s name to OM! for rest of the season.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      30th June 2017, 1:30

      @loup-garou Good one! :-)

      Maybe it’s wiser at this point for him to take some Krav Maga training.

      He might have to defend himself against an attack by Hamilton, Charlie, and Lauda as Ninjas…

      Maybe carry a pair of nunchucks in the car with him at all times and a few ninja stars that he can throw at tyres.

  56. It is understood Hamilton’s driving in the incident is not in question and the hearing will focus on Vettel’s behaviour.
    The FIA warned Vettel after an incident in the Mexican Grand Prix last year – when he swore over the radio at race director Charlie Whiting – that he could face a tribunal in the event of any future incident of a similar nature.

    Hamilton was preparing for the restart, and managing his gap to Vettel while bunching up the pack, trying to ensure he had the most advantageous position. As the leader, that is his prerogative.

    The FIA says there was no heavy braking or anything contrary to the rules.

    What do others within F1 think?

    As one senior source said: “Seb was not expecting it and he should have been. He accelerated anticipating Lewis would too. But Lewis had a clear view of the safety car ahead of him with its lights off. Why would he accelerate? He wants to get a gap (to the safety car), plus it’s his right to control the pace.”

    Former F1 driver and David Coulthard agreed, saying in his Channel 4 commentary: “Hamilton hasn’t accelerated then decelerated, he has kept a constant pace. Sebastian has misjudged it and then in his anger made contact with Hamilton.

    “I don’t think there is any part of that you can point a finger at Hamilton and say he has done something wrong. Vettel was anticipating what he would do, forgetting the fact the lead car can control the pace.”

    The eventual race winner, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, also backed this view.

    In case anyone wondering, from BBC..

  57. The biggest temper tantrums in F1 are from the anti-Alonso brigade. Seb has a long way to go.

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