Hamilton’s hopes hampered by fiveplace grid penalty

both attempted to steer away from any further conversation relating to the flashpoint.

Hamilton instead aimed his angst at the FIA for not punishing Vettel further and insisted any fallout would not spill out on to the track.

And so it proved as he went quickest in both of Friday’s practice sessions, with the task of closing the gap to Vettel at the forefront of his mind.

Asked if he was pleased to be back in the car rather than discussing the incident in Azerbaijan, Hamilton said: “That is what I came to do.

“I have been training, keeping my head down, staying focused and staying quiet and making sure I came here healthy and strong so we can fight.

“These two weekends are important, I lost points in the last race and I want to reverse that. These next two are an opportunity to do that.”

While setting a new lap record at the Red Bull Ring, Hamilton was less satisfied with the long-run simulations towards the end of the day having lost a little time as a spark plug was changed.

“I’m sure people don’t even realise we still have spark plugs because these engines are so complex. There were some other things they were working on so it didn’t particularly get rid of the issue that was there.”

Vettel could only manage the fourthfastest time in the morning before getting closer in free practice two, but he still could not match the man closest to him in the drivers’ championship.