Hamilton steals headlines from Vettel (From The Northern Echo)

Hamilton steals headlines from Vettel

8:00am Monday 26th September 2011 in Formula One

Lewis Hamilton walked away from a potential dust-up with Felipe Massa following a bitter post-race showdown between the duo.

On a night when Sebastian Vettel produced another faultless drive with a pole-to-flag victory in the Singapore Grand Prix, the heat continued after the flag fell as Massa confronted Hamilton.

A feud that began in Monaco when Hamilton ran into Massa during the Monaco Grand Prix, earning a drive-through penalty, simmered again on Saturday before finally spilling over in the aftermath of another on-track collision yesterday.

Following qualifying Massa decreed Hamilton "didn't use his mind again" after the 26-year-old barged the Brazilian out of the way after becoming frustrated with his slow pace.

So when Hamilton came up behind Massa on lap 12 of yesterday's race, it was almost inevitable they collided again.

On this occasion, following a failed pass, Hamilton lost the left side of his front wing after running into the right-rear tyre of Massa's Ferrari, causing an immediate puncture.

It came as no surprise either when the stewards handed Hamilton a drive-through penalty that pitched him down to 19th and although he managed to claim fifth, his troubles continued after the race.

In the drivers' pen, where TV and radio interviews are conducted, a clearly angry Massa approached Hamilton from behind, slapping him on the back and pulling him by the upper right arm to grab his attention.

When Hamilton turned, Massa twice slapped him on the right shoulder in a sarcastic congratulatory manner, giving him a thumbs-up sign before snapping: "Good job huh. Very good job."

In response, Hamilton shouted after a departing Massa, "Don't touch me man. Don't touch me."

Prompted by the interviewer to comment on Massa's actions, Hamilton simply replied, "Well, there you go", before deciding to depart the pen to avoid any further acrimony or grilling on the matter.

It proved to be Hamilton's only interview as he left the circuit an hour later without uttering another word to any of the media.

Massa, though, has had plenty to say on the subject, warning him he will never win another Formula One world title if he continues to drive in a 'mindless' manner.

"What can I say? How many races this year has he gone in the wrong direction and he's paid. He never learns," said a fuming Massa.

"The FIA is looking at that, for sure, because when he is doing it so many times then you have somebody over you. He's not learning.

"Even in qualifying, what he did yesterday, nobody is doing that to be honest, so I'm disappointed, but he is paying for it."

It all overshadowed another stunning performance from Vettel, who led every single one of the 61 laps to claim his ninth win of the season.

The championship champagne is on ice until the next race in Japan in a fortnight, though, as the Red Bull star still requires a single point to become the youngest back-to-back world champion in F1 history.

Behind Vettel, McLaren's Jenson Button was a commendable second, followed by Red Bull's Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari.

Force India's Paul di Resta conjured his best drive of his debut campaign to finish sixth, the Scot in the points for the third time in the last four races.