Baku: Sebastian Vettel needs to calm down after being punished for dangerous driving in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, says Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

Vettel was given a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for deliberately swerving into title rival Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes during Sunday's race in Baku. "Seb doesn't think before he acts," Ricciardo said.

"He is probably driven through passion and hunger. He's kind of just got to put a lid on it sometimes."

The Australian, who was Ferrari driver Vettel's teammate at Red Bull in 2014, won the race after dropping to 17th on lap six following a chaotic sequence of events, which included three safety car deployments, multiple crashes and the sight of Hamilton having to give up the lead to fix a loose cockpit head-protection device.

Ricciardo, , said: "I respect Seb a lot for his grit and his love for the sport, which turns into a lot of passion and sometimes aggression. I respect and like that about him.

"But on Sunday you have seen... whether it's over the radio, sometimes he will just go crazy. It is probably - what's the word? - spur of the moment? There's a better word."

Vettel was responding to a belief that Hamilton had 'brake-tested' him - deliberately slowed down to cause him trouble - as they were preparing for a restart after a safety-car period.

Stewards examined data from Hamilton's car and concluded he had done nothing wrong - he had merely not accelerated out of the corner as he prepared the restart, as is his right.

Ricciardo said: "Look, whether Lewis slowed down or not, he has every right to dictate the pace. He's the leader, and it was too early for him to accelerate.

"You're not going to make the restart out of Turn 15. Seb was probably just a little bit over-excited."

Vettel was also given three licence penalty points for his actions, taking him to nine. If he receives another three at the next race in Austria on 7-9 July, it would trigger an automatic ban for the British Grand Prix a week later. Sunday's explosive Grand Prix more than made up for last year's dull race in Baku, bursting the budding "bromance" and replacing it with something much more heavyweight. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said as much after a crazy afternoon that saw mutual respect and camaraderie tossed aside amid angry accusations.

"Nobody wanted to see the schmoozing anyway, so now the gloves are off," the Austrian said after Hamilton had dubbed the Ferrari driver a "disgrace" and suggested they sort things out "face to face".

"The sport needs the rivalry. What we have seen today is the ingredient of a great championship," said Wolff.

The most memorable seasons have been fuelled by controversy, passion and a fierce rivalry sometimes spilling into outright enmity.

Baku, with the championship favourites colliding and a podium of drivers who could scarcely believe their luck, provided enough drama to keep the championship bubbling away for months to come.

In Spain last May, Hamilton had spoken about how enjoyable it was to be battling a rival who was not a teammate - his main opponent for the past three seasons - and the admiration he felt for Vettel's speed and consistency.

The Briton had warned then, however, that it might not last and on Sunday he was proven right.

The battle lines were drawn the moment Vettel went into the back of Hamilton's Mercedes during the second of three safety car periods, the German shaking his fists and pulling alongside to bang wheels in a gesture that looked a lot like 'road rage'.

The frustrated and angry man of 2016, who raged at rivals and had to apologise to race director Charlie Whiting in Mexico last November after an expletive-laden radio rant, was back. The stewards were clear in apportioning blame, imposing a 10 second stop-and-go penalty on the German for steering into Hamilton.

There were some who felt such a penalty should have been applied already, even if the moment of madness ultimately cost Vettel a victory that would have fallen into his lap after Hamilton had to pit to fix a loose head rest. "Deliberately driving into another driver and getting away pretty much scot-free as he still came fourth, I think that's a disgrace. I think he disgraced himself today," said triple champion Hamilton.

"Imagine all the young kids that are watching Formula One today and see that kind of behaviour from a four-time world champion. I think that says it all."

Mercedes non-executive director and retired triple champion Niki Lauda said he had never seen anything like it. "Vettel is a decent guy normally. This I don't understand. He is crazy. Lewis will hit him one day. Not with the car but with his fist," he said.

(AGENCIES)