This damaged both cars - loosening further the head-rest in Hamilton's vehicle so severely that he was ordered to pit on safety grounds for repairs - and caused Vettel to lose his temper by pulling alongside Hamilton and then turning into him.
Daniel Ricciardo says he benefited from "a insane race" to take his first victory of the season in the chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Hamilton, who had dominated after a strong start from his 66th pole position, was also undone by a loose headrest that caused him to be ordered to pit for repairs, for safety reasons.
"But what I'm most proud of today is the huge effort the team put in overnight to switch on the auto".
"Once they had their penalties and whatever was going on, I certainly believed I could win but you never know, obviously, until it's the end".
While Ricciardo kept things clean in the latter part of the race it fell apart for so many of his rivals.
As Hamilton returned to the pit lane on lap 22 with the race suspended, he left his cockpit before examining the back of his auto for damage following the incident.
With debris littering the track, it was deemed too unsafe to race and the red flag came out on lap 22 of 51.
Vettel, who is chasing a fifth world title to stop Hamilton winning a fourth, was given a 10-second time penalty for the incident.
The episode left Hamilton incensed. "Vettel literally came alongside me and hit me", the Briton said. "I don't need to say anything else", Hamilton told Sky Sports.
United States shoots down drone close to Iraqi-Syrian border
It was an Iranian-made Shahed 129 and was thought to be armed and in firing range of U.S. troops. The incident follows Sunday's downing of a Syrian SU-22, a Russian-made attack jet.
"Imagine all the young kids that are watching Formula 1 today and see that kind of behaviour from a four-time world champion".
"Yesterday was disappointing with the mistake but I said we had to stay out of trouble today, and that's what we did".
"If he wants to prove he's a man, we should do it out of the auto face-to-face".
Force India's Sergio Perez jumped up to third, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen fourth ahead of Raikkonen.
"We had planned to do one long run in Q3, because that looked like the best way to get the maximum from the tyres, so the pressure was really on after the red flag with just one timed lap possible".
"On the cool-down lap, I was just giggling like a little schoolboy."
Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas snatched second place from 18-year-old Williams driver Lance Stroll in the final straight, as Vettel finished fourth ahead of Hamilton to extend his championship lead to 14 points.
Having examined video evidence while the race was still in progress, the stewards deemed that Vettel "drove alongside and then steered into" Hamilton, a manoeuvre they felt was "potentially dangerous".
In a rare bright spot for McLaren, Fernando Alonso placed ninth for his team's first points of a frustrating season.
Comments