Having never driven anything as near as powerful as an F1 car I cannot comment on how easy it is to accelerate, gesticulate, look in the wrong direction, speak into a radio and drive in a straight line whilst having a severe case of the red mist. Probably fair to say he meant to move towards Hamilton but I can't believe the impact was deliberate given the chances of him damaging his own car for nothing. I don't think Vettel was ever ahead. Certainly didn't look like it from the footage I saw. Doubtless, had he been ahead, he'd had been given a penalty for that.
As for being able to judge if it was a brake test, the car behind can very easily do that. A sudden deceleration would be instantly noticeable, which it was. The arse end of the car in front getting closer at a quicker rate than expected would be a bit unexpected. Plus the graphics that were shown did show Hamilton apply his brakes....
Had Vettel been called Senna or Hamilton he'd have been thought of as a "racer" and the excuse that he's "passionate" would be trotted out. It was the same when Schumacher was on the go, he was always in the wrong in the eyes of the British media and fans even when he was in the right (dude was bloody ruthless and bent the rules a couple times but it made for some damn fine racing and ultimately, that's what he want to see, not this sanitised PC Scalextrix track processional push the magic button to pass crap). It'll be the same with the next (German) driver who goes up against a Brit.
The way I see it, the pair of them were playing silly beggers, simple as that. But that's part of the game. Out-psych your opponent. At least Vettel has said he will talk to Hamilton away from the press and quite rightly discuss the incident behind closed doors. Meanwhile, the BBC are still quoting Hamilton's thinly veiled threats of hitting him with his handbag.
This might add a little context to your comments. Here is a clip of China 2017 where Ricciardo touched wheels with Vettel at more than 200km/hr!
[youtube]3MjKBtJe4Fg[/youtube]
(turn off your security if the video doesn't show or just use this link -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MjKBtJe4Fg )
Ricciardo later admitted that he did it on purpose. But he was not criticized at all instead it was all great fun by a fun guy! No safety concerns raised at all as in Vettel's 45 kph wheel bump!
DR: “I was honestly a bit bored so I just thought let’s bang some wheels and get the crowd excited!,” Ricciardo joked after the race.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t intentional, but I knew there was no harm done. A little bit of a smoke for the fans.”
The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. - Winston Churchill
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