Lewis Hamilton blasts ‘disrespectful’ Sirotkin
SAO PAULO: An angry Lewis Hami l ton blamed S ergey Sirotkin for “a disrespectful move” that threatened his pole position success in the aftermath of Saturday’s qualifying at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The new five - t ime world champion was lef t wait ing anxiously after the session to discover if the race stewards intended to summon him for his part in an incident that saw Williams’ Russian driver take dramatic evasive action.
Sebastian Vettel was also in difficulty after the session when he was called to the stewards to explain an incident in which he was called in to the weighbridge, refused to turn off his Ferrari engine and wrecked the scales when he drove off.
“Everyone was on an ‘out’ lap,” said Hamilton, explaining the incident which led to Sirotkin running two wheels off circuit on to the grass.
“Me, Sergey and everyone in front of me.
“Valtteri ( Bottas) was ahead of me and he was backing off to get his gap so I had to back off. I was making sure I had the gap, but then all of a sudden I saw a car coming at high speed and I was like ‘Oh, my God. Is that someone coming on a lap?’
“So I went left, but he was going left, but he wasn’t on a lap, so I don’t know what his thinking was. We all know to keep a gap.
“It was a disrespectful move. I was trying to get out of his way and then he got to the corner and slowed up.
“It was kind of strange. It was completely unnecessary because behind him there was a bit of a space so ultimately his lap and my lap weren’t great so hopefully he can learn from it.” — AFP