‘Rivals are at war right now’
my head together. I want to kill it in the next 12 races.”
Vettel lost his cool after colliding with the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes during a safety-car period in a chaotic race around the streets of Baku.
The Ferrari driver then drove alongside Hamilton before swerving into his Mercedes.
Vettel, who extended his championship lead over Hamilton to 14 points, claimed he only ran into the back of him because the Briton had “brake-tested” him. That view was not backed up by data from Hamilton’s car and Vettel is now eager to settle their differences away from the media spotlight.
“I don’t have a problem with him,” said Vettel. “I respect him a lot for the driver he is. I don’t think this is the right time to talk. I will do that just with him.
“I am willing to sort it out with him but I don’t think there is much to sort out. I will talk with him when you [the media] are not here. I don’t think there is a big problem.”
Hamilton and Vettel had spent much of the season discussing the respect they had for one another with seven world titles between them.
But their battle for this year’s drivers’ championship looks set to be every bit as intense as Hamilton’s tussles with former team-mate and last year’s world champion Nico Rosberg, with the pair next locking horns at the Austrian Grand Prix in less than two weeks.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is delighted the battle is approaching boiling point.
“Nobody wanted to see the schmoozing anyway, so now the gloves are off,” said Wolff. “The sport needs the rivalry. What we have seen is the ingredient of a great championship.
“They are warriors. They are at war at that moment.
“At a certain stage, the best ones that compete for the world championship in that phase of their careers can’t be friends. Maybe we’ve seen the limit of that respect.”
As well as the stop-go sanction, Vettel was also given three penalty points on to his super licence. Another three would result in him being hit with a one-race ban following three offences carried over from last season. But if Vettel stays out of trouble in Austria, three of those points will drop off his licence – not that the German has any plans to take it easy.
“We are here to race. We’re grown-ups and people expect us to race and use our elbows, that’s what people want,” he said.
“Here and there you might get a bit close but people want real overtaking, not just us driving past.”