Vettel gatecrashes Hamilton's Sky Sports F1 interview to explain what really put him off at the Canadian GP... two seagulls!
Monday 20 June 2016 13:31, UK
After losing out to Lewis Hamilton at the Canadian GP, Sebastian Vettel has confessed he was distracted by seagulls!
While Ferrari's two-stop strategy was a contributing factor to Vettel's defeat, the German says he was distracted by an unsual pair of track invaders before his first pit-stop.
"I watched the seagulls and I locked up," the Ferrari driver told race winner Hamilton in the pre-podium holding room. "That's when you caught up!
Hamilton beats Vettel to victory in Canada
Vettel then gatecrashed Hamilton's interview with Sky Sports F1's Simon Lazenby to make his case once again, with video replays showing the two birds unmoved by the charging Ferrari.
"He's not braking for animals," Vettel said. "You should give him a hard time because of that. Two seagulls at Turn One! I'm a racing driver, so I have to find some kind of excuse!
"I had my eyes into Turn One and then I see these two seagulls just sitting there, all relaxed. I had my eyes so deep into the apex, I locked up."
Hamilton could only see the funny side, after cutting Nico Rosberg's lead in the world championship standings to nine points with his fifth victory in Montreal.
"You know I'm good with animals, right?" the world champion joked. "I'm like Dr Dolittle, I told them to be there.
"I think I might have to buy you a couple of seagulls."
Rosberg describes Hamilton's first-corner move as 'really hard'
Having cut Hamilton's lead to just four seconds with 13 laps remaining, Vettel locked-up at the final chicane and then repeated the costly error minutes later.
The German had led the race early on after a stunning start saw him usurp both Mercedes, but the Silver Arrows' one-stop strategy eventually paid off.
