From the moment the lights went out in Baku on Sunday afternoon Lewis Hamilton was in dominating form, leading the pack with several seconds up his sleeve as chaos reigned supreme in his wake.
The Mercedes driver didn't put a foot wrong all afternoon, even with three safety car periods and a red flag stoppage, he was even the victim of road rage when Sebastian Vettel ran into him at the end of a safety car period, then drove alongside him and actually veered his Ferrari into the side of the Mercedes in anger, but he was forced to settle for fifth place in the end.
Through it all, Lewis came undone not because of his driving, or because of an accident, or hitting the wall, but because his headrest became loose and he was forced to pit in order to fix it.
Vettel, who received a ten second stop and go penalty and three penalty points, for ramming into the Mercedes driver, finished one place ahead in fourth after Lewis chased him all the way to the flag, but was unable to get past.
“It's difficult to swallow a result like this after a strong weekend. I drove my heart out today right to the line - I gave it everything,” he said. “I know the team will be devastated about the issue with the headrest, but what we have to take away from this weekend is the great performance we have shown.”
“We all feel that pain, but it's on me to gather my thoughts and try and lead the team through this adversity. We'll pull together and move forwards. I'm proud of my performance and I hope we can take the speed we've shown this weekend forward.”
Vettel actually accused Hamilton of brake testing him, which is why he rammed into the back of the Mercedes, and according to the Ferrari driver, he only went alongside the Mercedes to let him know that his behaviour wasn't acceptable, however, the stewards investigated the situation thoroughly, and there was no evidence that Hamilton did anything wrong whatsoever.
“I definitely didn't brake-test Sebastian. I controlled the pace under the Safety Car and, just like with the other restarts, I slowed down in the same place on the entry to T15,” Lewis explained. “At that point, it is up to me to control the pace and then I felt a bump from behind. But that wasn't the issue for me - everybody saw clearly what happened after.”
According to Lewis, it was Sebastian's behaviour that was unacceptable as they need to set the right example for the younger drivers, and Vettel certainly didn't do that. In fact, Lewis believes Sebastian is allowing his true colours to shine through because Mercedes have returned to form.
“All the young kids in other series look up to us, as champions, to set an example and that is not the behaviour you expect to see from a multiple champion,” he explained. “But we know that when times get tough, true colours show, and we have managed to apply some good pressure in the last weeks. Personally, I want to do my talking on the track and win this championship in the right way. More than ever after this weekend, I believe we can.”
