Understandably, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have conflicting opinions about the incident that occurred during the restart and resulted in a penalty for Vettel. Of course, the penalty was for Vettel’s dangerous behaviour after the incident, with Hamilton saying it doesn’t reflect well on Vettel, considering the F1 drivers are role models.
The FIA investigation of the incident cleared Hamilton of blame, concluding that telemetry showed that Hamilton did not brake-test Vettel, as was originally believed. This cleared Hamilton from a penalty. Hamilton told the press that the incident itself didn’t bother him, but it was Vettel’s intentional contact that bothered him the most:
“I definitely didn’t brake-test Sebastian. I controlled the pace under the Safety Car and, just like with the other restarts, I slowed down in the same place on the entry to T15. At that point, it is up to me to control the pace and then I felt a bump from behind. But that wasn’t the issue for me – everybody saw clearly what happened after. All the young kids in other series look up to us, as champions, to set an example and that is not the behaviour you expect to see from a multiple champion. But we know that when times get tough, true colours show, and we have managed to apply some good pressure in the last weeks. Personally, I want to do my talking on the track and win this championship in the right way. More than ever after this weekend, I believe we can.”
Meanwhile, Vettel doesn’t feel that the incident was worthy of a penalty or at least that Hamilton should have been penalized as well. Despite the evidence proving otherwise, Vettel still feels Hamilton brake-tested him:
“I don’t know why I got the penalty and Lewis didn’t. It’s disappointing, because it could have been a better result. I don’t have a problem with Lewis but I just think that what he did on the track was not ok. By now the decision is done but, in an episode like this one, I still think that if you give out a penalty, then it should be to both drivers.”
Maurizio Arrivabene, obviously supporting Vettel in the incident, has also hinted that he may feel as though the stewards were against Ferrari in the race. “I think that everything that happened today was clear to see for everyone, starting with the incident on the opening lap, with Kimi pushed into the barrier, then what happened to Sebastian on the restart lap after the Safety Car,” he said in the team’s press release. “We don’t want to get into an argument but I think I can say that some decisions that were not entirely clear, never worked in favour of our team.”
