ROAD RAGE
Crazy Vettel lands cheap shot as he deliberately crashes into Lewis. It’s...
THE moment Sebastian Vettel swerved and deliberately crashed into Lewis Hamilton midway through the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was the moment their fight for the world title turned on its head.
Before a breathless race here, the pair’s rivalry had been a friendly one. But pressure affects even four-time world champions, and Vettel wilted in the searing heat by the Caspian Sea, landing a real cheap shot on his opponent.
A safety-car period ended on lap 19, leaving race leader Hamilton to control the pace. As is the norm, Hamilton slowed in order to get a jump on his rivals. But coming out of the final corner, second-placed Vettel rammed into the back of Hamilton’s Mercedes.
An incensed Vettel responded by pulling alongside Hamilton and gesticulating before swerving to the right and hitting Hamilton’s left flank.
Vettel accused Hamilton of foul play, saying the Briton was braking and accelerating violently to try to force him into an error.
‘ What the f*** is going on?’ Vettel screamed over the team radio. But Hamilton had done nothing wrong and his telemetry proved it. ‘ Vettel literally just turned into me and hit me,’ Hamilton told his team.
The stewards agreed, although the 10- second stop-go penalty they handed the German for dangerous driving was lenient, to say the least. But this was not where the race was won and lost. There was more drama to come.
On lap 29, leader Hamilton’s head-rest came loose and, despite his attempts to hold it in place with his hand, he was ordered to pit two laps later. He was stationary for 10 seconds while it was replaced, which allowed Vettel to build a 27- second lead before stopping himself to serve that penalty on lap 33.
He came out in seventh just ahead of Hamilton who, seeing the red car in front of him, directed his anger towards race director Charlie Whiting and his four-man panel of stewards.
‘A 10- second penalty is not enough for driver behaviour like that,’ Hamilton said. ‘ You know that, Charlie.’
Hamilton closed to within half a second of his rival on lap 36, but couldn’t get past down the 1.4-mile main straight.
With five laps to go, Hamilton called on his team to assist him, saying: ‘ Guys, if Valtteri is not fighting anybody up ahead, he needs to slow down a bit.’
Hamilton’s idea was for teammate Valtteri Bottas to back Vettel into his clutches. But with the Finn attempting to catch Lance Stroll for second, Mercedes rejected Hamilton’s idea.
Their decision was vindicated when Bottas pipped the 18-yearold on the line. It was a fitting end to a tumultuous afternoon, which ultimately belonged to Daniel Ricciardo.
The Australian started from 10th but steered clear of danger and made bold passing moves to land the fifth win of his career.
It had started so well for Hamilton with a smooth getaway from pole position. Bottas held off fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen into the opening corner, but he hit the kerb on the entrance to the second, propelling him into his compatriot who was trying to move outside.
Vettel was the beneficiary, taking second place as his Ferrari teammate dropped back through the field and Bottas limped to the pits for a new nose.
Ricciardo pitted on lap six to remove debris from one of his brake ducts, re-emerging in 15th place, but quickly made progress through the field on new rubber.
Hamilton was building the gap steadily out in front and led Vettel by more than three seconds after 10 laps. At that point Daniil Kvyat parked his Toro Rosso at turn 12 and this lit the touch-paper.
With the stewards unable to remove Kvyat’s stricken vehicle, the safety car was deployed on lap 12. Hamilton sprung clear at the restart on lap 16 and Vettel just about held off Sergio Perez’s Force India into turn one. But just behind them, a piece of bodywork flew off Raikkonen’s car — a result of his earlier clash with Bottas — and the safety car was deployed again so it could be removed.
It departed on lap 19 and, despite their collision, Hamilton retained his lead while Vettel just about kept the charging Felipe Massa at bay into turn one after the Brazilian had passed Perez.
The Mexican was suddenly under pressure from team-mate Esteban Ocon and the pair collided at turn two. The luckless Raikkonen suffered a puncture as he waded through the debris, forcing the safety car to come out for a third time on lap 20.
The stewards had seen enough and on lap 22 the race was redflagged so the track could be swept clean. When it was restarted 23 minutes later, Hamilton pulled away from Vettel again.
Behind them Ricciardo moved past the Williams pair of Stroll and Massa to take third. It turned out to be the winning move.
Hamilton finished fifth, less than a quarter of a second behind Vettel, who extended his championship lead to 14 points. With 12 races to go, the gloves are off.