Ferraris Sebastian admits he was wrong in crashing into Hamilton's Mercedes during Azerbaijan GP; says he is not proud of the incident
Lewis Hamilton , Kevin Magnussen and Sebastian Vettel
Mercedes' driver Lewis Hamilton (left), Haas' racer Kevin Magnussen (centre) and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel share a light moment during a press conference yesterday ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring circuit in Spielberg, Austria on Sunday. Pic/AFP
Title rivals Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel drew a line under their controversial collision at the last race in Baku, but the peace between the pair could be short-lived as they resume their rivalry in this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.
ADVERTISEMENT
The gloves in the championship battle between the pair came off a fortnight ago in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when Vettel, believing Hamilton had brake-tested him, swerved his Ferrari into the Briton's Mercedes behind the safety car.
Facing the press for the first time since the Baku race, Vettel and Hamilton appearing in the same press conference, were both keen to move on.
"It was the wrong move to drive alongside him and hit his tyre," a contrite Vettel, who called Hamilton on the Monday after the race and texted him an apology a day later, told reporters at the Red Bull Ring circuit on Thursday.
"Am I proud of the moment? No. Can I take it back? No. Do I regret it? Yes."
Vettel was handed a ten-second stop-and-go penalty during the race in Baku but finished ahead of Hamilton after the Briton had to stop to replace a loose cockpit head-rest.
The sport's governing body, the FIA, reviewed the incident earlier this week but the German escaped further sanction after making an apology, which was also posted to his website.
"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 as I always have," said Hamilton.
"I accept his apology and move forwards," added the triple world champion, who nevertheless stood by his comments immediately after the race in Baku calling Vettel a "disgrace."
Vettel leads Hamilton by 14 points in the standings with eleven races still to go. Both have won three races each.
The Briton was on course to win in Baku until his headrest came loose and, with Mercedes having won every race in Austria since the round returned to the calendar in 2014, he goes into the weekend favourite to make up for that lost win.
"Happily, it has been positive ground for Mercedes over the last three years," said Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
"We start again from the ground up on Friday morning and will aim to come out of the blocks well in first practice.
"In a season as close as this, we have to if we are going to be on the top step at the end of the year," he added.
The Austrian Grand Prix is also Red Bull's home race. The energy drinks company that owns the team also owns the 4.3-kilometre long track.
Daniel Ricciardo benefitted from the chaos in Baku to take the team's first win of the season. But the former champions are realistic about their prospects of scoring a repeat of that shock victory on Sunday.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
