F1
Nate Saunders, General Editor, F1 7y

Lewis Hamilton hopes kids don't follow example Sebastian Vettel set in Baku

Formula 1, AutoRacing

Lewis Hamilton says Sebastian Vettel's "disrespectful" car chop in Baku sets a bad example for aspiring Formula One drivers and would not have been tolerated at go-karting level.

Vettel and Hamilton's championship fight had been conducted in good spirits until its first major flashpoint in Azerbaijan, which occured when Hamilton was dictating the pace ahead of a Safety Car restart on lap 19. Vettel, anticipating Hamilton would bolt out of Turn 15, drove into the back of Hamilton -- who he later accused of brake-testing -- and then moved alongside the No.44 car, raised his right hand and slammed into the side of the Mercedes in protest.

Vettel was penalised for the incident with 10-second stop-go penalty during the race and three points on his superlicence. Hamilton is concerned Vettel's retaliation might give aspiring drivers the wrong idea about what is acceptable.

"I need some time to really reflect on it all, but ultimately was happened was disrespectful," Hamilton said. "If I had had any ill-intent in terms of my driving towards him or 'brake-testing' or whatever it may be, I still think it is not deserving of that reaction from someone, a person you do have respect for and have shown it on the track.

"I don't think it's great... there's a lot of other kids in other categories watching us to see a multi, multi world champion who you would think would behave better than that. That's the sort of thing you see in go-karts, which you learn from not doing in karts. I really hope kids don't see that in GP2 and GP3 and think that's the right way, you know? Everyone has their own opinion about things but that's not how you drive. And that's not an answer or solution to any issue you have, so..."

The data from Hamilton's car showed he had not brake-tested Vettel and had driven exactly the same way before the first Safety Car restart three laps earlier, meaning he did not get a penalty.

"The stewards looked at my data and the reason I didn't get a penalty is because clearly I didn't and I don't have any intention of brake-testing him -- I'm leading the race, why brake test him? I was leading by a good gap before the Safety Car, I have no reason to brake test. There's absolutely no thought that comes to mind that would make you want to do that or see a benefit.

When asked if Vettel could have accidentally driven to the right when he took his hand off the wheel in protest, he said: "There's no reason to pull up alongside the leader at that point. It couldn't be clearer [what he did] -- it's as clear as blue skies.

"We're the world champions, we're the best drivers in the world.... maybe if you [a journalist] are going down the road in your road car and you put your hand out the window and do this, you might swerve to the right... but we don't do that. We've been racing for years, we just don't do that."

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