The incident which took place two weeks ago in Baku was inevitably the main point of today’s drivers press conference ahead of the 2017 Austrian Grand Prix, as both Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton faced the media:
“I don’t think it’s necessary [to re-live the events of Baku]” – Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel said, in response to his first question – “I had a chance to quickly speak to Lewis after the race, but l don’t want to pump it up anymore. It felt like Lewis hit the brakes but I don’t think he actually brake-tested me. I thought I had been ‘fouled’ and overreacted. Am I proud of the moment? No. Can I take it back? No. Do l regret it? Yes” – Sebastian added, as reported by the Italian media at the end of the press conference – “I think the person I had to talk to was Lewis, that was the most important [thing]. On Monday I went to Paris to see the FIA, we had the hearing, they asked me my opinion in terms of what happened, to run through the incident, that’s what I did. I don’t think there was a need in that regard to talk to you [the media] straight after, you’re not the most important people. As I said, the most important for me is the guy I’m racing with and that’s Lewis and that’s who I decided to call first.”
Sebastian Vettel then declared himself happy with the fact that Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton had accepted his apology: “I am happy to hear that it doesn’t appear to have had a big impact. Obviously what l did was wrong and l apologised. Obviously, I did a mistake so I can understand if he is upset. But it’s nice to hear we can move forward. The respect we have on and off the track helps us in this regard.” Ferrari’s German driver denied the incident showed he has a problem with his temper: “I can see why you might believe’s it not, but I think I face a lot of situations that are quite hot and I don’t think so.”
The FIA opted not to take any further sporting sanctions against Vettel and, speaking ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Hamilton said he had accepted an apology from his title rival: “I don’t think it does.” – Hamilton explained when asked whether the incident had changed the nature of their rivalry – “Sebastian and I spoke after the race on the Monday and then shortly after that he messaged me the day after I think it was. For me I just said that I still have the utmost respect for him as a driver and will continue to race him hard for the rest of the season, in the same way we always have, no less hard than we have been until now.”
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