Vettel on Hamilton-battle: "Didn't want to be a complete ass"

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel says that he didn't want to look like "a complete ass" when defending his position from the charging Lewis Hamilton during the Russian Grand Prix, as the German eventually got overtaken by his rival.

Vettel undercut Hamilton in Sochi, just about overtaking the Brit as he emerged from the pit street, but Hamilton immediately applied pressure on his fellow four-time champion. 

As Hamilton got a big run on Vettel on the main straight, but the German defended with what Hamilton called a "double move", almost forcing him into the wall. No further action was taken by the stewards though, and the two continued to battle.

Just a few corners after, Hamilton did make his move stick on the Ferrari, diving down the inside and holding his ground on the run-off.

"Obviously I had a compromised run out of the second corner defending my position," Vettel recalled to Autosport.

"Then it was very difficult to see where he was, I couldn't see him for a very, very long time - and then just saw his tyres.

"I knew that he was somewhere there.

"I didn't want to be a complete arse by pushing him into the dirt and potentially into the wall.

"So I wasn't quite sure where he was and then at some point I had to give in.

"I thought I could maybe get it back out of Turn 4 but I had to give him the entrance, otherwise at some stage it just becomes silly.

"I wasn't happy when I lost the position."

That loss of position means that Hamilton now leads Vettel by 50 points in the championship battle. With just five races to go, things are not looking good for the German, but as long as it's mathematically possible for him to win, he'll back himself to do it.