Vettel jokes with Hamilton about suicidal seagulls

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Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton ended their Canadian Grand Prix battle in unusual fashion, joining about seagulls "that wanted to commit suicide".

With Vettel leading the race early on, the Ferrari driver locked up at Turn 1, with Hamilton gaining time. Vettel explained in the post-race press conference that he had actually been distracted by two seagulls sat on the circuit at the first corner, and joked Hamilton had not been as careful at the same point.

"It was a bit more tricky to keep Lewis out of the DRS until a couple of laps in – until just before the Virtual Safety Car actually," Vettel said. "I was a bit distracted, we chatted about it, I have to mention it, I don’t know why but I have to, there were two seagulls. I think it was a couple that wanted to commit suicide.

"They were at the apex of Turn One. Lewis obviously didn’t care, so he made up quite a bit of time, about half a second, but I didn’t do that couple that favour to say goodbye for good, so by the time Lewis came around they just flew off. Wasn’t fair! I brake for animals, Lewis doesn’t but… yeah."

Later, Vettel gatecrashed an interview Hamilton was doing with Sky Sports to again joke about the seagulls, requesting to see the footage of the incident.

Vettel: "He's not braking for animals! You should give him a hard time because of that.

"Two seagulls, Turn 1 ..."

Hamilton: "I feel like you're using the seagulls, they were innocent!"

Vettel: "I'm a racing driver, so I have to find some sort of excuse why the hell you beat me today!"

Hamilton: "I saw you lock-up and then the seagulls did move..."

Vettel: "I had my eyes into Turn 1 and I saw this stupid couple of seagulls sitting there all relaxed ... I'm coming, my car is red, it's easy to see, it doesn't blend in like yours."

Hamilton: "It was planned! You know I'm good with animals, right? I'm like Dr Dolittle, I told them to be there and they were there."

[After a replay of the wrong lap]

Vettel: "It was the worst moment of my race ... I will stay here until you find the lap!"

[Once the footage is replayed]

Vettel: "Two seagulls, you see! I had my eyes so deep into the apex I locked up!"

Hamilton: "So deep! Oh my God, they are so far away!"

Vettel: "I know, but mind the animals, honestly, I'm very nice. They stayed there, that's what really annoyed me ... they stayed there! There's a red car coming at one hundred and something [mph] and they stayed there!"

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.