Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton describes the experience of playing mind games with his rival Sebastian Vettel in Baku.
Lewis Hamilton had a smirk on his face as he was right inside the mind of four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in Azerbaijan 2017.
Sebastian Vettel led the world championship, 12 points ahead of the Briton going into the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This was a crucial race for both the drivers.
Mercedes dominated the qualifying as Hamilton’s weekend got off perfectly with a pole at the Baku Street Circuit. Meanwhile, teammate Valtteri Bottas started 2nd ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.
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Sebastian Vettel confronts Lewis Hamilton during the safety car restart
The former Red Bull driver was right behind Hamilton, jumping position after Bottas and Raikkonen collided against one another. It was a race to remember.
The Safety car was out and running while the stewards cleaned up the track due to an incident. Lewis Hamilton complained that the safety car was instead moving too slow.
In anger, Sebastian Vettel ran into the rear of the seven-time world champion’s Mercedes. This led to a confrontation between the drivers as the German pulled right beside Hamilton.
The Mercedes driver on getting inside Vettel’s head
The four-time world champion broke his front wing while Hamilton’s rear diffuser also took the hit. According to Vettel, Hamilton was trying to break-test him.
However, this was not the case, and he apologized to Hamilton right after the race. A few months later, looking at this particular race, Hamilton saw it coming.
The Briton stated: “He [Vettel] hit me, and I was like, I am in his head. I was sure. What the hell is he doing?” Right after this statement, Hamilton giggled mischievously.”
Daniel Ricciardo went on to win the race, with Bottas finishing second. Lance Stroll driving for Williams, secured his first podium as he finished third in Baku.
