Lewis and Vettel have F1 verbals Down Under
Lewis Hamilton lit the blue touch paper on his rivalry with Sebastian Vettel yesterday after storming to pole position ahead of this morning’s Australian Grand Prix, before goading the Ferrari driver by declaring he had wiped the smile off his face.
Hamilton was in a class of one at Albert Park in Melbourne, as he produced yet another one-lap masterclass to fire an alltoo familiar warning to his rivals in the very first qualifying session of the year.
The defending champion, 33, roared to the top of the time sheets to finish an eyewatering six tenths of a second ahead of the rest to seal his 73rd career pole and a record seventh here in Australia.
Vettel qualified only third, after he was beaten to the front row by his Ferrari team- mate Kimi Raikkonen – and Hamilton could not resist a playful jibe against his chief championship protagonist on the eve of their battle for a fifth Formula One world title.
Hamilton was asked to explain a “party mode” radio call from his Mercedes team which was relayed to the British driver in the moments before his super-quick lap.
The message appeared to imply that Hamilton could use a legal power boost in the shoot-out for pole.
Hamilton and Vettel posted similar times on their penultimate runs, but the Englishman was well clear of his rival following their respective final timed laps.
“I can assure you we don’t have a ‘party mode’,” Hamilton said. “There was no extra button.”
“What were you doing before then?” asked Vettel, sitting to the right of the Mercedes driver.
Hamilton hit back in a war of words: “I was waiting to put a good lap in to wipe the smile off your face.”
Vettel did not reply to Hamilton’s initial jibe, before the incident was re-visited.
“He said it so quick the first time I didn’t get it,” Vettel said.“But now I do. What goes around comes around.”
Vettel continued: “If that is what he enjoys, doing well on a Saturday . . .” Hamilton interrupted: “It really was a joke, man.”
Vettel replied: “I know. He is free to have a party tonight and, hopefully, Kimi and I will have a party tomorrow.”
However, on the evidence of Hamilton’s emphatic qualifying display here, it is the Briton who will be celebrating this evening.