Lewis Hamilton was playing 'dirty tricks', according to Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel
SEBASTIAN VETTEL has described Lewis Hamilton's tactics at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as 'dirty' after he finished third.
Sebastian Vettel could have done Lewis Hamilton a favour by catch Nico Rosberg
It was a difficult situation in the end with Lewis Hamilton playing some dirty tricks
Vettel was the fastest car on the track in the closing stages of the race and after passing Red Bull's Max Verstappen he had Nico Rosberg in his sights.
However, the German was unable to haul in his countryman to the disappointment of race leader Lewis Hamilton, who needed Rosberg to fall two places to overtake him in the world title race.
"It was a difficult situation in the end with Lewis playing some dirty tricks," Vettel said.
“I did what I could.
“[On the] second straight I had a look, but Nico defended well.
"I couldn’t try something stupid because Lewis was just ahead – if I dived inside or outside, I had the risk of hitting Lewis.
"It was critical and I saw Max coming back.”
Sebastian Vettel was on the podium for only the fourth time this season
Sebastian Vettel joined the two Mercedes drivers on the podium but Nico Rosberg was the real winner
Vettel also disagreed with Hamilton's claims that Rosberg had the better luck over the season and that was why he had won the world championship.
“I think in my point of view you don’t win a championship by luck, Nico won today and he is a deserved champion,” Vettel added.
“Sometimes you might have unfortunate or fortunate situations with your car, but sometimes you have better years or worse years, and it is Nico’s day – we owe it to him as a deserved champion.”