Sebastian Vettel under fire after Lewis Hamilton clash

Sebastian Vettel is under fire amid accusations that he deliberately rammed championship rival Lewis Hamilton while behind the safety car in Baku.

Vettel accused Mercedes driver Hamilton of ‘brake testing’ him, which damaged the German’s front wing and sent him into a rage.

“If you were to do that on a public road you would get arrested,” 1996 world champion Damon Hill is quoted as saying by The Times.

He is referring to the way the Ferrari driver pulled alongside Hamilton and apparently deliberately turned into him, earning him a penalty and bringing him close to the end of his super licence penalty points.

Afterwards, a furious Hamilton said that the next time Vettel wants to take him on, it should be “face to face”.

“Lewis will hit him one day,” agreed Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda. “Not with the car but with the fist.”

When grilled by the media about the incident, Vettel simply would not refer to it.

“I went next to him to lift my hand. I wanted to make it clear that this was not right,” he said. When asked if it was deliberate, Vettel asked the reporter: “That I lifted my hand?”

Despite repeated attempts by reporters to refer to the clash, Vettel would not even admit that there was contact, instead insisting again and again that Hamilton had brake-tested him.

Yet the FIA released data showing that Hamilton’s attempts to warm his brakes were consistent throughout the safety car periods.

“We are racing but we are men. We are not in kindergarten,” he is quoted as saying by Bild. “We are expected to race, to use our elbows.”

However, Hamilton said that Vettel’s actions set a “precedent” for impressionable young racers coming through the ranks, and others agree that the FIA may still act.

“In Britain they have just banned a driver for a year for deliberately causing an accident,” a Mercedes source said.

What is clear is that the gloves are now off in the championship fight, with Vettel saying that he would phone Hamilton in the coming days but Hamilton responding: “I don’t think he has my number.”

Ferrari are backing their man, with boss spokesman Alberto Antonini saying: “We all saw what happened.

“It was unnecessary for Lewis to be so slow. Seb is not to blame.”

Team boss Maurizio Arrivabene added: “With what happened between [Valtteri] Bottas and Kimi [Raikkonen] and then Sebastian, I would say ‘Is this Formula 1 or the Coliseum?’

“But we do not want to complain because it is not our style.”

As for Lauda’s criticism of Vettel, Arrivabene added: “Lauda can say what he likes. We want to remain quiet and work.”

The championship continues with the Austrian Grand Prix on July 9.