F1
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Daniel Ricciardo: Sebastian Vettel does not think before he acts

Formula 1

Azerbaijan Grand Prix winner Daniel Ricciardo says Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel got "over-excited" and needs to calm down after being penalised for dangerous driving in Sunday's race.

Vettel was handed a 10 second stop-go penalty as punishment for deliberately hitting Lewis Hamilton under a Safety Car period. Vettel was ultimately able to extend his championship advantage to 14 points by finishing fourth and one place ahead of Hamilton, who later said his title rival had "disgraced himself".

Ricciardo, who was Vettel's teammate at Red Bull in 2014, was aided by the incident -- and an unscheduled pit stop for Hamilton to fix a loose headrest -- on his way to pulling off a remarkable victory having dropped as low as 17th during the early stages in Baku.

"Seb probably sometimes doesn't think before he acts," Ricciardo told the BBC. "It's probably driven through passion and hunger. He's kind of just got to put a lid on it sometimes. I respect Seb a lot for his grit and his love for the sport, which turns into a lot of passion and sometimes aggression. I respect and like that about him.

"But today you have seen -- whether it's over the radio, sometimes he will just go crazy. It is probably -- what's the word? -- spur of the moment? There's a better word."

Despite Vettel's claims Hamilton had brake-tested him under the Safety Car, data from the Briton's W08 showed he had simply not accelerated out of the corner as oppose to suddenly braking. As a result, the stewards opted to take no further action against the Mercedes driver.

Ricciardo backed Hamilton, arguing the triple world champion was well within his right to dictate the pace as the leader behind the Safety Car.

"Look, whether Lewis slowed down or not, he has every right to dictate the pace. He's the leader, and it was too early for him to accelerate. You're not going to make the restart out of Turn 15. Seb was probably just a little bit over-excited."

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