Sebastian Vettel accused stewards of ‘stealing the race’ as the German vented his fury after the Canadian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver was hit with a five-second penalty in Sunday’s race for seemingly forcing Lewis Hamilton off track after an incident on lap 50.

Vettel took the checkered flag to finish the race in first place, only to see championship leader Hamilton usurp him following the post-race sanction.

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"Where could I go?" raged Vettel at the time. "I had nowhere to go... They are stealing the race from us... This is the wrong world. This is not fair."

Later, Vettel offered a more considered view: "Well, first of all, I really enjoyed the race and the crowd on every lap.

"Seeing them cheer me on... It was very intense. I think you should ask the pit wall what they think, but we had a great show – and Lewis showed some good respect."

It was Hamilton’s seventh win in Canada, equalling a record set by the legendary Michael Schumacher.

But as Hamilton was asked to speak after the race, he was booed by the crowd - only for Vettel to back him up.

"People shouldn't boo at Lewis," he said. "It wasn't his intention to be in harm's way. So, people shouldn't boo at him.

“They should boo at those who make the decisions."

Hamilton later said that it was “not the way I wanted to win.”

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