Lewis Hamilton says his respect for Formul⛄a 1 rival Sebastian Vettel has grown considerably since th𓂃eir collision during last year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix. 

The pair return to B𒐪aku and the scene of their controversial clash behind the Safety Car for the fourth round of the 2018 F1 season this weekend. 

Following initial contact while running under Safety Car conditions, Vettel drew alongside Hamilton and appeared to turn into the Mercedes driver in a moment of fur🅠y, having accused Hamilton of deliberately slowing down in a bi🦋d to unsettle him. 

Vettel was handed an in-race time penalty and was later summoned to a meeting with FIA president Jean Todd in which he acce🐷pted full responsibility for the incident, though no further action was deemed necessary. 

Hamilton initiall🉐y labelled the German a “disgrace” and went on to beat his rival to the 2017 world championship, drawing him level with Vetౠtel on four drivers’ titles.

When asked what the 2017 clash haไd told him about Vettel, Hamilton replied:"Not much really; it's gooℱd to see fire within the people that you're competing with, it's also good to see that they're not perfect because I guess nobody's perfect.

“We all make mistakes but it's more so how people handle it and how they progress [that] is what you can really learn from,” he added. “He’s continued to progress꧃ as the champion that he is. 

“How he pre꧂sents himself, how he speaks, he continues to grow and the words that he uses today. The respect has grown, actually, a considerable amount since then. I'm sure it will continue.”

Vettel recently leapt to Hamilton’s defence at the Bahrain Granꦜd Prix when the Briton came under fire from a journalist in a post-race press conf🦩erence for calling Red Bull’s Max Verstappen a “dickhead” after the duo made contact in the race.