Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel
Formula One - F1 - Spanish Grand Prix - Barcelona-Catalunya racetrack, Montmelo Spain - 13/05/17 - Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel after the qualifying session. Reuters / Albert Gea

Reigning Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has admitted having a tense exchange with Ferrari star Sebastian Vettel after the pair were involved in a scary incident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in June. At the time, Vettel had the decisive advantage in the Formula One World Championship race.

Vettel and Hamilton finished the race at fourth and fifth places respectively as Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo registered his only victory in the 2017 Formula One season. After the race, Hamilton accused Vettel of deliberately crashing the rear end of his Mercedes while the safety car was out. The Briton labelled Vettel's move "a disgrace" and lashed out at the FIA for not slapping the Ferrari driver with severe punishment. Vettel was eventually handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty.

With the world championship in Hamilton's kitty, the Mercedes F1 star has opened up about the heated conversation with Vettel. “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 (that) ... I’ve never been in a position like that. I guess people react differently under certain pressures," the four-time world champion told The Flying Lap.

Lewis Hamilton didn’t let incident unfaze him

Hamilton revealed that he was determined not to let the incident ruin his pursuit of a fourth world championship, which he sealed at the United States Grand Prix in the last week of October. “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. If he wants to prove he is a man, do it out of the car face-to-face.”

The 2017 Formula One season will culminate at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the Yas Marina Circuit this coming weekend. Mercedes F1 and Lewis Hamilton have already clinched the Constructors' and Drivers' championships.