Brawn admires passion shown by Vettel

  • Published on 29 Jun 2017 17:26
  • comments 7
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn has disagreed with Sebastian Vettel's on-track antics at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix but admires the German's passion. Vettel was highly frustrated after feeling Hamilton had brake checked him as they prepared for the safety car restart.

The Ferrari driver pulled alongside Hamilton and swerved into him, resulting in a 10 second stop/go penalty. Brawn also thinks that if Hamilton didn't have an issue with his headrest that forced him to pit, he would have won the race and there would not be so much hubbub around the situation.

"Sebastian did something he shouldn't have done and got penalised for it," Brawn told the BBC. "If we hadn't had a technical problem we would be sat here with Lewis having scored substantially more points than he did, so Lewis would have won the race and that would have resulted in a different complexion. It wasn't pre-meditated that's for sure, it was reaction to huge amount of adrenalin and passion running through these guys' systems."

Despite the collision, Brawn doesn't think that the two will lose respect for each other. So far this season, both Vettel and Hamilton have been in praise of one another and Brawn doesn't believe that the relationship will turn stale due to the clash.

"There's huge respect between them and that hasn't changed," Brawn added. "There's a spike in that respect which will calm down. You don't have one incident which destroys everything before. It wasn't that severe of an event. Some fierce competition fought in the right way is what Formula 1 is about.

"Perhaps this will add a nice edge to the competition but we're not advocating one approach of the other. There was heat, several red hot moments and your perception of what's going on can sometimes get through. I don't believe Lewis did anything wrong and Sebastian misread the situation, which is understandable in the intensity of the battle they were having."

 

Fergal Walsh

I'd say he has had enough of a reprimand. You want a public punishment? British media's totally unbiased and not at all unfair views on the incident should be sufficient. The acidity over at Sky caused my stomach ulcers to open up again. The fact that Hamilton werent punished (apart from with kar... [Read more]

  • 2
  • Jun 29 2017 - 21:52

Replies (7)

Login to reply
  • Yes, Vettel shows his passion when he pulls an amazing overtake. By showing his priority is racing and not being a celebrity like Lewis. By being angry and disappointed when he underachieves.

    However, road rage in the middle of a race, profanity laced radio comm insulting Charlie W. Not taking responsibility when hi makes a serious mistake. These are not signs of passion, but rather a weakness of character. I understand Brawn has to spin this into the excitement of F1, which is kind of true, but Vettel needs at the very least a public reprimand, a suspended sentence, or something to show that his behavior on track was not comparable to the other offenses that would give you a 10 second penalty. This was way more serious.

    • + 0
    • Jun 29 2017 - 20:45
    • I'd say he has had enough of a reprimand. You want a public punishment? British media's totally unbiased and not at all unfair views on the incident should be sufficient. The acidity over at Sky caused my stomach ulcers to open up again. The fact that Hamilton werent punished (apart from with karma) and Vettel were should pretty much make this even.

      • + 2
      • Jun 29 2017 - 21:52
    • @CALLE.ITW I think we will have to agree to disagree. However, I think you can at least see that even if Hamilton had provoked Vettel, which I believe has been largely disproven by telemetry review), you could not justify what he did. Vettel has shown no contrition or shame, not even acknowledging that he did it. If he had apologize (even if it was done a few days later) I would call it closed, but he really seems to have a character problem. I am ok with him having a character, it's good for the show, good for F1.

      • + 0
      • Jun 29 2017 - 22:32
    • Yes, lets agree to disagree. I wont try to convince you on the topic, I just want you to know my stance.

      I dont think it was a good thing Vettel did, no, I've expressed this opinion before. I dont really think Vettel intended to actually hit Hamilton, but either way it wasnt okay. And its not really a Vettel thing to do. But the fact that Hamilton did (from what I've seen) provoke the reaction by brake checking Vettel should milden the circumstances or net both a punishment, and since the latter didnt happen the outcome should be a given. Furthermore, if you recall the last couple of years, Hamilton has done similar things with Rosberg aswell. If he can do that to a team mate, I am very sure on that he can do it to someone else.

      • + 0
      • Jun 30 2017 - 06:19
  • Please don't ban him from Austria.. That would be the worst

    • + 1
    • Jun 29 2017 - 20:58
  • Wolfgang

    Posts: 313

    I think Vettel´s biggest punishment is the must to be in Paris on his birthday. :-)

    I also don´t think they´ll punish him again afterwards, i think they´re going to teach him a lesson and tell him again that this was not the right thing to do..

    • + 0
    • Jun 30 2017 - 07:36
  • ianf1

    Posts: 185

    I doubt they'll give him a full race ban, they'll probably just give him a fine if they give him anything extra. It more a public show of knuckle rapping imho.

    As has been said, if he'd apologised or acknowledged fault in the immediate days that followed then these extra proceedings would probably not be happening.

    • + 0
    • Jun 30 2017 - 09:42

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 21:06

BEGrand Prix of Belgium

Local time 21:06

World Championship standings 2025

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
14 - Mar 16
Australia
21 - Mar 23
China
4 - Apr 6
Japan
11 - Apr 13
Bahrain
18 - Apr 20
Saudi Arabia
2 - May 4
United States of America
16 - May 18
Italy
23 - May 25
Monaco
30 - Jun 1
Spain
13 - Jun 15
Canada
27 - Jun 29
Austria
4 - Jul 6
United Kingdom
25 - Jul 27
Belgium
1 - Aug 3
Hungary
29 - Aug 31
Netherlands
5 - Sep 7
Italy
19 - Sep 21
Azerbaijan
3 - Oct 5
Singapore
17 - Oct 19
United States of America
24 - Oct 26
Mexico
7 - Nov 9
Brazil
21 - Nov 23
United States of America
28 - Nov 30
Qatar
5 - Dec 7
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
14 - Mar 16
Australia Albert Park
21 - Mar 23
4 - Apr 6
11 - Apr 13
18 - Apr 20
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
2 - May 4
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
16 - May 18
23 - May 25
Monaco Monte Carlo
30 - Jun 1
13 - Jun 15
27 - Jun 29
Austria Red Bull Ring
4 - Jul 6
United Kingdom Silverstone
25 - Jul 27
1 - Aug 3
Hungary Hungaroring
29 - Aug 31
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
5 - Sep 7
Italy Monza
19 - Sep 21
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
3 - Oct 5
17 - Oct 19
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
24 - Oct 26
7 - Nov 9
Brazil Interlagos
21 - Nov 23
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
28 - Nov 30
5 - Dec 7
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Ferrari
  • Points 3,448
  • Podiums 132
  • Grand Prix 217
  • Country United Kingdom
  • Date of b. Jan 7 1985 (40)
  • Place of b. Tewin, United Kingdom
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.74 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar