Vettel considers Hamilton’s maneuver in the race as stupid

Quickly eliminated from the race due to a puncture, Lewis Hamilton nonetheless showed a solid pace during the race that could have allowed him to fight at the front. Relegated a lap down, the Briton didn’t hesitate to demonstrate this by unlapping himself against Sebastian Vettel, a maneuver that the German didn’t appreciate at all: « It wasn’t nice of Lewis. I don’t see why he was fighting with us. If he wants to go fast, he should just let it be and wait until he has a clear track. It was stupid considering he was a lap down. If you want to go fast but have no chance of winning the race, you should respect that and show some common sense. I wasn’t expecting him to attack because I didn’t see the point, so I was surprised to find myself alongside him. I think it made us lose a position to Button because we pitted right after. »

But the German believes that his pace was not good enough to trouble Fernando Alonso: « Overall, the pace was there but it was very difficult. When we were close to Fernando and Jenson, we lost a lot and it was difficult to stay close enough to try to attempt something under braking. »

For his part, Fernando Alonso, who was also under threat from the Briton, would not have offered any resistance: « I knew that if Lewis was close enough to use the DRS and try to overtake me, I wouldn’t have had a problem giving him space. I knew he wasn’t in the race. We didn’t want to risk anything. »

But the Spaniard acknowledges that having Lewis Hamilton between him and Sebastian Vettel was a significant strategic advantage: « For me, it was good. Having Hamilton there meant that Sebastian was two and a half seconds away as we approached the stops, so I tried to keep him between us. »