Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel were once involved in a major incident at the 2017 F1 Azerbaijan GP which soured their on- and off-track relationship during that year. The incident involved Hamilton brake-testing Vettel and the latter’s resultant outburst of anger towards the Brit.
Early on in the race at Baku, a safety car came out after Daniil Kvyat’s Toro Rosso stopped on the tracks. At the time, Hamilton was leading the race and was being chased by Vettel. The top two drivers pitted for a tire change, but it did not change their positions. Out of the pits and back behind the safety car, Hamilton started slowing down and bunched up the pack before the restart.
This act of slowing down did not sit well with Vettel as he felt Hamilton was braking too much, to a point where it could be a brake-test violation. The cars collided which caused damage to Vettel’s front wing. Angry with the Mercedes driver’s tactic, the German driver went up alongside Hamilton and rammed his car into the Brit’s. This was done intentionally; only their wheels touched and no further damage was done to the cars.
After the race, Hamilton labeled Vettel’s on-track act “disgraceful.” He then said that if the Ferrari driver wanted to “prove he was a man,” he should have done it face to face after the race and not risk another driver’s life while on track. Hamilton said (via The Guardian),
“Driving alongside and deliberately driving into a driver and getting away scot‑free pretty much – he still came away with fourth – I think that’s a disgrace. I think he disgraced himself today, to be honest.
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