Hamilton admits to threatening Vettel after Grand Prix

F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has claimed that he issued a threat to Sebatian Vettel following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after a coming together while the safety car had been deployed led to Vettel taking advantage and finishing ahead of Hamilton in the race.

The pair's rivalry over the past few seasons has led to some thrilling action but their relationship has at times been strained, as witnessed when Hamilton offered a warning to the German following the incident in June, telling him that 'there would be problems' if such an incident were ever to happen again.

Speaking on Motosport.com's Flying Lap, Hamilton stated: "When I spoke to him later, I was like ‘that’s a sign of disrespect, so don’t ever disrespect me like that again otherwise then we will have problems.

“I’ve never done that to someone. I don’t even know what he was thinking to have done... I've never been in a position like that.

“I guess people react differently under certain pressures.”

Hamilton added that the reason why he has never revealed the story until now was because he did not want anything to distract him from his bid to claim the world championship title once again.

He added: ”I think there’s different ways in which you can handle things.

"I knew what I was there to do and I wasn't going to let anything distract me from doing that.

“I wasn’t going to let myself say something or react in a way that’s going to cause some negative swirl which is going to steer me off course from my ultimate goal.

“And naturally, with the experience you learn to just compartmentalise all those different things.”

Vettel's victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix has put him in pole position to finish ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the driver's championship, in second behind Hamilton.