Following his last race with Ferrari last weekend, Sebastian Vettel has revealed that Lewis Hamilton, whom he’s battled for the Championship on a number of occasions, cheered him up after it was announced that he would leaving the Scuderia at the end of 2020.
“Right after the bad news in spring, Lewis called me. We then had a few more conversations or wrote to each other,” Vettel said in a recent interview with the German-language Blick newspaper.
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“He always cheered me up and motivated me to continue,” the four-time World Champion added.
Relations between Hamilton and Vettel have become strained at times, such as at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, when Vettel drove his Ferrari into Hamilton’s Mercedes behind the safety car as he felt he had brake tested him.
Earlier this week, Charles Leclerc, who was Sebastian Vettel’s team-mate at Ferrari for two seasons, said they always had a good relationship even after on-track incidents.
“I think he’s one of the few drivers in the paddock that manage to keep a difference between what’s happened in the car and the person outside the car,” Leclerc said.
“That meant that the relationship was always good, even when sometimes on track it was difficult.
“I’ve grown so much as a person thanks to him, having him next to me was also an example for me to follow.
“He welcomed me in the best way possible. I really, really enjoyed being team-mate for two years with him,” Leclerc added.
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