Daniel Ricciardo has hit out at Lewis Hamilton over the Mercedes driver's illegal tactics during the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel took out the race from Hamilton, with Australia's Ricciardo finishing in fifth.
Hamilton's chances of victory were hampered by a costly five-second penalty for slowing Ricciardo during a pitstop.
Mercedes were forced to stack their cars as they pitted and the Englishman blocked Ricciardo into the pit entry, earning the penalty that cruelled his chances of taking victory despite Vettel's 6.6-second overall advantage.
The Mercedes driver was entitled to slow down on-track, but not in pit lane.
Hamilton apologised after the race but Ricciardo was less than impressed.
"Emotional times at the front of the F1 pack here..." Ricciardo said.
Ricciardo. Image: Getty More
"He was obviously backing up so he could get a clear pit stop and Valtteri (Bottas) wasn't in there. I believe before pit entry that was fine, but here, where he's not going quick, I believe that's why he got the penalty.
"I was pretty calm. I was like 'please...'. I knew what he was doing. I thought he might be at risk of a penalty."
When asked if he would have done the same, Ricciardo said: "I would have done it before the pit lane, because I think that's A-OK. I'm not going to tell him my secrets, but I would have done it differently."
Fans took to social media to condemn Hamilton:
Hamilton apologising for driving too slow under safety car, bollocks, it was a deliberate act of cheating to ruin Ricciardo’s race — Chris Thompson (@CWT1882) April 16, 2017
Great race, right winner, vettel just sublime, Hamilton rightly penalised for slowing ricciardo, love Alonsos radio messages — dawsclan (@Dawsvader) April 16, 2017
@lesleymahon @F1 @danielricciardo Hamilton passed him right after the SC ended. However, Ricciardo could've been a huge factor if he held the place. — The Prince of Badass (@KaiserBob99) April 16, 2017
Coming into the restart, Ricciardo was on soft tyres, which he struggled to get up to speed and with a lack of traction he quickly slipped from third to sixth in a matter of corners.
He eventually got back past Felipe Massa's Williams but the Australian couldn't help but feel disappointed at the outcome.
"I genuinely thought we had a chance to win," Ricciardo said.
Hamilton, Vettel and Bottas on the podium. Image: Getty More
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