Italian GP: Hamilton Disagrees With Vettel, Insists Lap 1 Move Was Fair

Lewis Hamilton extended his lead to 30 points over Sebastian Vettel after winning the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, but it was not without incident as the Mercedes driver and his title rival from Ferrari made contact on the opening lap of the race.

Vettel was favorite to win ahead of the race in Italy, but after being beaten to pole position by his teammate Kimi Raikkonen, he tried to attack too early in the race and was put in a compromising position going into Turn 4.

Hamilton took advantage of Vettel’s failed move on Raikkonen into Turn 4 to make a move of his own and pulled it off but not before coming into contact with the German’s Ferrari, which eventually led to him spinning and breaking his front wing. The Mercedes suffered no damage and continued.

Vettel laid the blame squarely on Hamilton after the race and insisted that he gave him no space on the inside, which meant the collision between the two was inevitable. The German fell to the back of the field after the opening lap but came back to finish in fourth place.

The British racer, however, insists that he merely took advantage of Vettel’s miscalculation and that he left enough space for both cars to make their way out of Turn 4 without any incident.

“I was surprised that Sebastian went to the left but then we got into Turn 1 and I think there was a small touch between us all,” Hamilton said after the race Sunday, as per Planet F1.

“Then powering down to [Turn] Four, again, a bit surprised Sebastian chose the inside and not go through the outside of Kimi – that was my opportunity.

“I stuck it down the outside and had to make sure I was far enough alongside and I had an experience a few years ago where I was on the inside back in 2012 or something like that and it didn’t come off very well, but I thought there was enough space between us,” the Briton explained.

“I think ultimately, I am guessing he may be locked up, I don’t know, we touched, it was a brief moment.”

The four-time world champion and current championship leader admits that despite him overtaking Raikkonen much later in the race to take his sixth win of the season, it was his pass on Vettel on the opening lap that was the “turning point” in the race.

Hamilton admits that it was a risk for him to make such a dangerous move on the opening lap, but he is aware that his battle is with Vettel until the end of the season and not with Raikkonen, who at that point was leading the race.

“I was trying to figure out how aggressive you can be, because my race is not with Kimi – it is with Sebastian,” Hamilton said.

“I was trying to get past Kimi at the same time. I was just telling him he did a fantastic race, he drove incredibly fairly and I respect him so much. I really enjoyed racing with him. But getting past Seb at the beginning was clearly a massive turning point,” the Mercedes driver added.