After being hit by Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and finishing second at Silverstone, Hamilton said the first-lap move was "interesting tactics" from Ferrari. The Englishman has since retracted his remarks, adding on social media: "Sometimes we say dumb s**t and we learn from it."

And Vettel, who won an eventful race to extend his championship advantage over Hamilton, has backed the Mercedes driver's "human" reaction.

"I think it's fine," Vettel said ahead of his home German GP. "Obviously it was silly to say it but we are racing, we've all been there and it's never great if you are hit without doing anything wrong.

"It's also fine to express your opinion even if it's not right or reasonable. It's human, so I think it's fine."

Ferrari also accepted Hamilton's apology after the British GP, responding on Twitter: "We appreciate Lewis Hamilton's comments today following Kimi Raikkonen's apologies after the British GP, notably when Lewis described the episode at the start as a 'racing incident'.''