Austrian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel put Baku incident behind them

Hamilton revealed the German apologised to him - but not immediately

Hamilton wants the pair to race as hard as they've always done (Getty)

It says everything about what passes as hardline governance at the FIA these days that the harshest thing they did all week was to put Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton together in the pre-event press conference in Spielberg on Thursday. And, predictably, it was as appetising as warmed-up leftovers.

Vettel’s angry Princess Petulant persona had apparently been left behind in Baku, and back was the smiley fellow with the self-deprecating sense of humour, albeit also with the convenient taste for sackcloth and ashes that he had shown in Malaysia in 2013 and Mexico last year after previous headlining controversies.

“I had the chance to quickly talk to Lewis after the race, but I don't want to pump this up more than it is already,” he intoned. “It is my right, our right, that it stays between us. But I think I said everything I had to say.”

It appeared he had already forgotten the “sincere, personal apology” he had made to “all the people who were watching the race,” – which included the media as well as the fans, though the two are not mutually exclusive. And he was not going to be allowed to sweep it all under the carpet that easily.

It transpired that he had indeed apologised to Hamilton, but not immediately.

“The conversation we had on the Monday, it wasn't actually an apology, even though that perhaps was the intent,” the Englishman revealed. “Then shortly after that he messaged me. It was literally the next day when I got a text from Sebastian, apologising.”

He said he was quite content to accept it.

“I just said that for me I still have the utmost respect for him as a driver and will continue to race him hard through the rest of the season, in the same way I always have, no less hard than we have been already up until now.

“My only point to Sebastian was him saying that I had brake tested him. I said I hope you can correct that publicly because people who were watching felt that was something I did, and the data showed that was not the case. In actual fact, he accelerated.

“The goal was to be as close as possible to me, but that was an error in judgement. My only point there in the reply to him was that I hope he makes that clear. There was no need for me to do something like that, as I was in the lead.”

Vettel conceded he had made the wrong decision. “It was the wrong move to drive alongside him and hit his tyre. There’s not much more to say. At the time I was surprised, at the time it felt like Lewis hit the brakes and I could not stop running into his car. I’m not proud of the moment, but can I go back in time and take it back? No.

“So I’m happy to hear [from Hamilton] that it doesn’t seem to have had a big impact on our relationship. It’s nice to hear that we are able to move forward. The respect we have for each other on and off track helps us get through this.”

But was it intentional?


 Vettel shunted Hamilton in Baku 
 (Getty)

“It’s very simple,” he began, taking that one on the chin. “I got surprised, my impression at time was wrong. I thought I had got fouled, and drove alongside him not happy about it and over-reacted. There’s no need to explain further, we’ve all seen what happened.

“Obviously I had a very different view inside the car than with a little bit of a gap outside of the car – that is why I made a statement.” But when pushed by a journalist to explain why it had taken him so long to make the apology, he retorted: “I don't have your number. I don't want it. So... I don't feel the need to talk to all of you [the media, those who were among the hundreds of thousands watching the race, remember].

“The person I had to talk to was Lewis. That was the most important and then the Monday I went to Paris to see the FIA. We had the hearing, they asked me my opinion in terms of what happened, we ran through the incident and that is what I did.

“I don't think there was a need in that regard to talk to you straight after. You are not the most important people I think – the most important for me is the guy I am racing with, is Lewis, and that is the one I decided to call first.”

Hamilton was remarkably composed about the whole affair.


 Hamilton accepted his rival's apology 
 (Getty)

“I really don’t feel any tension here,” he said, even though the room was packed with people asking hard questions. “We extinguished that when we spoke on the phone.

“But there are two things that are most important. One is that Sebastian acknowledges publicly that I didn’t brake test him, because I’ve had people sending me messages saying that I was out of order.

“Two is that road safety is a big issue, that is a campaign that the FIA is constantly pushing, and obviously how we govern the sport is important as it reflects on the rest of world.

“We are supposed to be role models and to give a certain message, collectively as a sport we are supposed to inspire and send the right message to young kids. We are in a position of power, and how we utilise that is very important.

“That is the end of the matter for me, now I will solely focus on this weekend. I said everything I thought I needed to say at the last race and left it there. There are a lot of races ahead of us, and we are a little bit behind on points, so I just want to keep my head down.”

But the triple world champion did make one final point, when asked whether he was happy with the message that the governing body had sent out, by leaving Vettel’s punishment as the 10s stop-and-go he had served in the race and the three extra penalties points on his licence, plus the wrist-slap talks he must give to F2, F3 and F4 drivers at some stage this year.

“Nothing changes,” Hamilton said, “and with all due respect Jean [Todt] should be sitting next to us to answer some questions. They [the FIA] didn’t change anything on Monday, so the situation says the same.”