Daniel Ricciardo does not subscribe to Sebastian Vettel's notion that Lewis Hamilton brake-tested him during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The German was left furious during the second Safety Car period after he felt Hamilton had rapidly slowed down upon entry into Turn 15, causing him to make contact with the rear of his Mercedes. Vettel then proceeded to drive alongside Hamilton, waving his hand in the air in disapproval, before bizarrely turning in and making contact again.
Data analysed by the stewards found that Hamilton had maintained a consistent speed and behaved in the same manner as he had on the other Safety Car restarts. Ricciardo -- who emerged victorious in Baku -- says it is very unlikely Hamilton would attempt to brake test his championship rival and instead suggested Vettel may have been following too close.
"I don't think Lewis would have brake tested him," Ricciardo told ESPN. "It just makes no sense because you also risk damaging your car.
"At the end of the day it's the leader's right to dictate the pace. I think if you're going super-fast and then slam on the brakes that's a different story but because he was still going so slow at that stage it's hard to call it a brake test."
The clash between the two championship protagonists is the first of 2017 and while many were divided on the 10-second stop-go penalty handed to Vettel, Ricciardo believes his former Red Bull teammate was deserving of the sanction.
"I think the penalty was fair enough but it was purely competition and it can sometimes spark some reaction," Ricciardo said. "When you're racing it gets emotional and when you stop-start with all the restarts, you build yourself up and then it comes back down, so just one of those things. Just a bit of a quick reaction. It's all good.
"We've seen it with Seb sometimes, he'll come on the radio and get pretty vocal. He has a pretty reactive personality but that's nothing against him, I think he's just passionate and obviously wants to win."
As well as the stop-go penalty, Vettel also picked up three penalty points on his super licence and is now three away from a one-race ban.