FORMULA 1 Race rivals already feuding PARTY POOPER
Lewis takes another pole as insults start to f ly
LEWIS HAMILTON had a bust-up with title rival Sebastian Vettel in a bitter war of words in Australia.
The defending champ rubbished claims he had a special “party mode” button on his Mercedes which he flicked to get a power boost to blast to pole for this morning’s race.
Hamilton took the 73rd top spot of his career by a huge 0.7secs from the Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel – then the sparks started to fly as they all sat alongside each other.
Four- time world- beater Hamilton, 33, insisted: “I can assure you we don’t have a party mode. I used the same mode from Q2 to the end of Q3.
“There was no extra button and there was no extra button that I engaged in.”
German racer Vettel, 30, quizzed Hamilton and asked: “What were you doing before?”
But Hamilton hit back, and said: “I was waiting to put a good lap in, to wipe the smile off your face.”
Vettel, clearly irked when asked about the comment, replied: “He said it so quick the first time I didn’t get it. Now I get it.
“What goes around comes around. At the end of the day that is why we are here and we want to have fun.
“If that is what he enjoys, on Saturdays he is doing well.”
Hamilton, trying to defuse the bitter exchange, attempted to backtrack as he turned to Vettel and said: “It really was a joke, dude.”
Vettel said: “I know. He is free to have a party tonight and hopefully Kimi and I will have a party tomorrow.”
And Hamilton then quipped: “Kimi parties all the time” which was met with a stony face from the Finn. Hamilton and Vettel lhdtidt had tried to Hamilton H ilt s aw off ff defuse any simmering feud between Vettel’s challenge to rethem only last Thursday. gain the championship.
They spoke of the respect they felt But the Monaco-based for each other as four- time Brit can claim he landed champions. the first blow after an
But that grudging respect lasted awesome lap around the only until they turned a wheel in Albert Park track. anger for the first time this season. However, Hamilton’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas spectacularly crashed into the barriers at turn two in the final qualifying session.
The Finn is under pressure to prove he deserves to keep the seat for next season with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo tipped to take over.
Dust-ups
The duo are both bidding to equal Juan Manuel Fangio’s tally of five drivers’ titles this season and look set for several more dust-ups over the 21-race campaign.
And there is a history of track bust- ups from last season when