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Horner puts Vettel's Baku clash with Hamilton down to 'red mist'

Sebastian Vettel's angry contact with Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was a matter of "red mist", says Vettel's long-time team boss Christian Horner.

Hamilton and Vettel were running first and second ahead of the second safety-car restart in Baku, when the Ferrari driver ran into the back of the Mercedes.

Vettel felt Hamilton had brake-tested him and subsequently pulled alongside the Mercedes before swerving right and making contact.

The stewards gave Vettel a 10-second stop/go penalty for "potentially dangerous" driving, and Hamilton said his rival "disgraced himself" with his actions.

Horner called it a "heat of the moment" response from the man who took four titles with his Red Bull team before moving to Ferrari.

"Sebastian obviously felt that Lewis brake tested him," said Horner.

"Then it just looked like a red mist moment to me, where he's lost it and taken a swipe at him - which was only ever going to result in a penalty.

"But it's heat of the moment stuff. A penalty was inevitable after that."

Vettel ultimately finished fourth, with Hamilton fifth after an extra pitstop to repair a loose headrest dropped him down the field from the lead.

The result means Vettel extended his championship lead to 14 points with 12 races to go.

Horner believes the incident adds to the increasingly intriguing title battle between the two drivers.

"Emotions are running high, they're fighting for a world championship," said Horner.

"It cements the rivalry between the two of them for the rest of the season.

"It's going to be a great championship battle throughout the rest of this year."

Daniel Ricciardo won the race, giving Red Bull its first victory of 2017, and Horner hopes his team can be more involved at the sharp end even though its pre-season title hopes have been dashed.

"We're too far out of contention to compete for the championship," Horner said.

"But I think we're gaining performance and speed to be able to compete for race wins as we're getting more and more performance of the car."

Ricciardo rose to fourth in the drivers' championship with his Baku win, but is still 61 points off Vettel.

Red Bull is 113 points away from leader Mercedes in third place in the constructors' standings.

Zdroj: autosport.com