Sebastian Vettel once called Lewis Hamilton ‘a bit stupid’ after bizarre blue-flag incident

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Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton enjoyed many great battles together in the 15 years that they shared the Formula 1 grid together.

Inevitably, both Vettel and Hamilton came to blows on multiple occasions in the fight for supremacy at the top level of motorsport.

They won 11 drivers’ championships in the 15 full-time seasons that they both competed in and were parts of Red Bull and Mercedes dominance made for the history books.

With one now retired and the other entering a new dawn, Hamilton took one great consideration from Vettel before a Ferrari move for 2025. He opted to have the same race engineer as his ex-rival.

The German driver failed to win with Ferrari while he was racing for them, and was denied by his British counterpart on multiple occasions.

Once at the German Grand Prix in their days racing for other teams, they managed to clash despite being one lap apart from each other.

Sebastian Vettel called Lewis Hamilton ‘a bit stupid’ at the 2012 German Grand Prix

Heading into the 2012 German Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso held a 13-point advantage over Mark Webber, and 29 points over Vettel.

Hamilton was a little further behind, and desperately in need of a good result in what was his 100th Formula 1 race.

Sadly, he suffered an early puncture and fell one lap behind his rivals very quickly. He refused to give up and remained in the race until lap 56 when he retired with damage from the puncture.

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In the middle of the race, he attempted to unlap himself from Vettel, who was fighting for second place with Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button at the time.

It prompted an angry response from the German after the race, who couldn’t understand why it was necessary for him to pull off such a move.

“I don’t see the point in him trying to race us. It is a bit stupid to race the leaders,” he told media including BBC Sport.

How Lewis Hamilton nearly formed an F1 partnership with Sebastian Vettel

There are multiple occasions where Vettel and Hamilton could’ve partnered up and been teammates throughout their careers.

They’ve driven for some of the most historic brands in the sport from Ferrari to Mercedes to McLaren, and have taken multiple race victories with each of them.

Hamilton nearly formed an F1 partnership with Vettel back in 2008 while McLaren were on the search for a driver to replace departing two-time champion Alonso.

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The German had impressed during a brief stint with Toro Rosso, but ultimately was unable to make the move due to restrictions within his Red Bull contract.

He did go on to win his first race that season and earn a promotion to their senior team, but it didn’t quite deliver the magnificent McLaren partnership that could’ve been.