The flashpoint came as Hamilton bunched the pack up ahead of a safety car restart which caught Vettel out and saw him run into the back of the Mercedes.
In his rage Vettel pulled alongside Hamilton and gesticulated at the Mercedes driver – then steered towards him which caused the pair to clash wheels.
Vettel, who claimed Hamilton had ‘brake-tested’ him, was handed a 10-second stop and go penalty but Hamilton claimed the punishment allowed his rival to get away with dangerous driving that put them both at risk.
“I didn’t brake-test him. I was controlling the pace so like all the other restarts I slowed down at the same spot but he was obviously sleeping so drove into the back of me,” Hamilton said.
“But that wasn’t the issue. Driving alongside and deliberately driving into another driver and getting away freely, pretty much as he finished fourth – that is a disgrace. He disgraced himself today.
“If he wants to prove that he is a man we should do it out of the car and face to face. Driving dangerously in any way can put a driver at risk.
“Luckily, we were going slowly, if we were going faster it could have been a lot worse.
“Imagine all the young kids watching Formula One today and see that kind of behaviour from a four-time F1 world champion. That says it all.”
Hamilton’s chances of victory were ruined by a loose headrest which forced him into the pits. When he emerged, Vettel had already served his penalty and was one place ahead, where he remained to the finish.
But Hamilton insist he occupies the high ground, both morally and in terms of his car’s performance, going into the rest of the season.
“I want to keep going,” he said. “We had the upper hand this weekend and will continue to move forward. Through difficult times your true colours show so it is a good day for me.”
Niki Lauda, the non-executive chairman at Hamilton’s Mercedes team, was equally scathing of Vettel, saying: “He freaked out in himself. When you hit somebody up the a*** it is your fault. No question.
"But to drive next to him and hit him on purpose, I have never seen anything like this.
“Lewis will hit him one day. Not with the car but with the fist. If I was Lewis, I would speak to Sebastian and ask him what is wrong.”
Vettel, however, clearly sees nothing wrong in his actions, and said: “We had a little contact, but I drove alongside him, mostly to raise my hand.
"I did not give him the finger. I just wanted to tell him, because I can’t literally talk to him, that what he did was not right.”
Source: Agencies