F1
Lewis Larkam 7y

Christian Horner: Sebastian Vettel had 'tourette's' moment

Formula 1

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel had a "tourette's moment" when he hit Lewis Hamilton under the Safety Car at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The controversial flashpoint of the race -- and arguably the entire 2017 Formula One season so far -- occurred when Vettel, irate in his belief Hamilton had brake-tested him under the Safety Car, moved alongside and swerved into the Mercedes driver with his arms aloft in fury. Vettel's actions saw him receive a 10-seccond stop-go penalty and three penalty points on his superlicence, moving him closer to a potential race ban.

Hamilton said the German, who ultimately finished fourth to extend his championship lead to 14 points, had "disgraced himself", while Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda called Vettel's moveĀ "crazy". Horner believes his former driver saw red in the "heat of the moment".

"He's obviously had momentarily, a tourette's moment," Horner told reporters after the race. "Emotions are running high, they're fighting for a world championship. I think it's an immense bit of rivalry between the two of them for the rest of the season.

"It looked like Sebastian obviously felt that Lewis brake-tested him and then it just looked like a red-mist moment, where he's lost it and taken a swipe at him, which was only ever going to result in a penalty. But it's heat of the moment stuff. A penalty was inevitable after that."

When asked whether he thought the stewards had been too lenient in handing Vettel a 10-second stop-go penalty as oppose to a disqualification, Horner replied: "That's down to the stewards and the FIA isn't it. I guess Lewis was upset about it because after he'd served his own effective penalty, he came out behind him. It's down to the stewards."

Horner predicts Hamilton and Vettel will continue to be the story of 2017 as their battle for the world championship heats up and hopes Red Bull can remain in contention for race victories during the rest of the year, following Daniel Ricciardo's shock win in Baku.

"I think it's going to be a great championship battle throughout the rest of this year. I hope as we are gaining in competitiveness that we can -- I think we are too far out of contention to compete for the championship -- but I think we're gaining performance and speed to be able to compete for race wins."

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