Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton says he was eager for Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel to retract his accusations of being brake tested, following their clash in Azerbaijan.
As the field prepared for a restart through Turn 15, Vettel struck the back of Hamilton’s car and, believing he had been brake tested, gesticulated, drew alongside, and made contact.
Vettel maintained his stance post-race but the stewards confirmed that Hamilton had not deviated from his approach on the previous restart.
Vettel issued an apology for his conduct following an FIA meeting on Monday and Hamilton commented that he was happy for the matter to be considered closed.
“I really don’t feel there’s tension here, you guys might feel there is, we distinguished that when we spoke on phone,” Hamilton said while attending the press conference in Austria.
“There’s two things [that are] most important for me.
“Firstly it was [that] Sebastian acknowledged I didn’t brake test him, which while he had apologised I don’t know if people understand that, that’s important for me.
“People were sending messages to me saying I was out of order.
“I had no intentions, there was no need for me to do that as I was in the lead, I accept his apology and move forwards.
“Secondly obviously road safety is a big issue, that campaign the FIA are constantly pushing.
“It was obviously a decision on how they govern the sport and how it reflects to the rest of the world, they were the two points I was focused on.”
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