Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has defended his driver, Sebastian Vettel, after the German branded Lewis Hamilton “stupid” for unlapping himself.
Hamilton, who had dropped to the back of the field after a lap three puncture, managed to catch the leading pack and pass Vettel to put himself on the same lap as the leaders, but the pass cost Vettel a second as he tried to defend at the hairpin.
After the race, Vettel made his feelings clear to the media, saying: “That was not nice of Lewis. I don’t see why he was racing us.
“If he wants to go fast he should drop back and find a gap. It was stupid as he was a lap down.”
Vettel’s boss put the comment down to ’emotions’ and admitted Hamilton was within his rights to unlap himself.
“Obviously, drivers’ emotions run high,” Horner said. “It was an unusual situation because usually when you lap a car, it doesn’t come back past you. But Lewis was on fresh tyres.
“If you look at the rules, I don’t think that there is anything to say that a car can’t unlap itself. It’s frustrating that it cost us a second and it’s unfortunate that he didn’t unlap himself from Fernando as well.
“If it had cost Fernando a second as well, then it would have negated the disadvantage of being unlapped. But he was entitled to do it.
“In Seb’s opinion, it affected his race and it did affect his race. But it’s within the rules and he [Hamilton] did nothing wrong and arguably helped his team-mate.”
