Following days of speculation, the FIA tonight issued a brief statement confirming that an investigation is to be held into last Sunday’s incident involving the two world championship protagonists.
"Following the recent incident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in which Car 5 (Sebastian Vettel) was involved in a collision with Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), on Monday 3rd July, the FIA will further examine the causes of the incident in order to evaluate whether further action is necessary.
"A statement regarding the outcome of this process will be made available before the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix."
The incident began with Vettel hitting the rear of Hamilton's Mercedes at the second re-start. The German, claiming the Briton had "brake tested" him, subsequently pulled alongside the Briton and appeared to drive into him whilst gesticulating.
Shortly after the stewards handed Vettel a 10s stop and go penalty - as well as another 3 penalty points, bringing his 12 month total up to 9 - having decided that the German "drove alongside and then steered into" Hamilton, a manoeuvre they deemed "was potentially dangerous".
Vettel served the penalty, despite protesting his innocence, while Hamilton insisted that the penalty wasn't severe enough.
Post-race, while Vettel continued to claim his innocence, Hamilton branded his actions a disgrace, claiming the German’s behaviour set a bad example for young racers .
While the telemetry shows Hamilton did not brake test Vettel, there remains a question mark as to whether his exit from the corner was different to previous laps, catching the German off guard.
While much of the post-race media coverage of the event has been critical of the German, the situation not helped by the fact that despite the penalty he finished ahead of Hamilton after the Briton suffered a headrest malfunction, specualation that he might face further punishment appeared wide of the mark.
However, following last year's Mexican Grand Prix, Vettel faced the FIA's International Tribunal following his expletive laden outburst at (race director) Charlie Whiting, the Ferrari driver aggrieved that action had not been taken against Max Verstappen following an earlier incident.
Though Vettel apologised for his outburst and the apology was accepted, the International Tribunal made it clear that any further misdemeanours would result in some form of sanction.
"The FIA takes this opportunity to advise that, in the event of any future incident similar to the one that occurred in Mexico, disciplinary action will be taken by bringing such incident before the FIA International Tribunal to be judged," said the FIA at the time.
While this incident is entirely different to what happened in Mexico, it is thought that it is Vettel's refusal to acknowledge the fact that he warranted punishment in Azerbaijan that has riled officials... that and pressure from various sources including the media.
Indeed, and with a certain irony, it is understood Jean Todt was particularly keen to see the incident investigated, the FIA president having spent much time on the other side of the fence when heading Ferrari and at the helm when Michael Schumacher was excluded from the 1997 championship following the incident involving Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez.
Possible sanctions Vettel could face could include a race ban.
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