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Todt warns Vettel about potential for "severe" consequences

FIA president Jean Todt has warned Sebastian Vettel that he will face "severe" consequences for any repeat offences in the future despite escaping further sanction for clash with Lewis Hamilton in Baku.

 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, in parc ferme
Jean Todt, FIA President
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari and Jean Todt, FIA President
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H
Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H and Fernando Alonso, McLaren MCL32
 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H

Vettel was invited to the FIA's Paris headquarters earlier this week to discuss what happened before the second safety car restart in Azerbaijan, where he banged wheels with Hamilton amid his anger at what he thought was a brake-test.

But after Vettel apologised for what happened, and promised to help educate young drivers, Todt agreed to not to take the matter any further.

Speaking for the first time since the FIA's decision, however, Todt has made clear that Vettel will face a very different scenario should he be involved in a similar incident to either the clash in Baku or his outburst against F1 race director Charlie Whiting in Mexico last year.

"It is up to the president of the FIA to decide whether he should be asked to go in front of the International Tribunal," Todt told Sky Sports.

"After Mexico, which was a completely different offence, and I mean clearly we see that Sebastian, who is a great driver, sometimes is not able to control himself as much as he should. And I used to run drivers, and they are in a very tense situation.

"I think you must try also to interpret the situation well. This doesn't mean that you give them the right to do anything, but you must try and understand it.

"It's so easy to make decisions behind a desk, or to judge behind a desk. You must accept in life that human beings may have some emotions.

"This thing was a completely different matter, but clearly, Sebastian has had some very strong warnings. And clearly, it won't happen again. If it would, then the consequences would be very severe."

Tour de France comparisons

The FIA's decision to let Vettel off prompted criticisms from some quarters, especially when a day later cycling's authorities showed a strong hand in disqualifying Peter Sagan from the Tour de France for his part in a crash with rival Mark Cavendish.

But Todt thinks it totally wrong to compare the two incidents, because they involve different sports and very different circumstances.

"We are in a business where we need to be very precise," he said. "I am not very familiar with cyclists or football but I think it's irrelevant to compare what happened recently in the Tour de France and what happened in Baku.

"The cyclists were in full action and not during a neutralised period. I don't know what would have been the consequences or what would have happened."

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