Sebastian Vettel’s justifiably bitter condemnation of overeager and comparative newcomer Daniil Kyvat’s rashness behind the wheel in the closest of Formula One melees could be watchwords for this weekend’s clash in Russia.

The youngster’s excitement at being on native home ground for round four knows no bounds and his eagerness to register success could have frightening outcomes for those daring to curb or outwit his dash for a debut championship victory in the Sochi Autodrome’s 53-lap showdown.

Last time out in Shanghai when Kyvat was blamed for causing a first lap pile up between Ferrari partners Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel, the usually reserved and reticent German ace was enraged enough to launch an out-of-character verbal onslaught.

“He’s like a madman,” was his verdict on the sporadic Kyvat, 22 last Tuesday, a starter 39 times in F1 — and only too often the perpetrator of near misses in wheel-to-wheel confrontations.

His daredevil action in diving riskily for a narrow space between Raikkonen and Vettel just after the start resulted in the luckless Finn having to head for the garage for repairs with Vettel fuming over the radio to his pit lane backup: ”Kyvat’s driving like a madman.”

Afterwards the four times champion, replaced at Red Bull by Kyvat in 2015, added sharper criticism with: ”He came like a torpedo...”

You might think such a rebuke from a universally admired figure like Vettel, a driver of fairness and respect in the closest of hairy combat, would slam the brake on Kvyat’s overstepping of the mark. Not so. Far from it. Not if his unapologetic response is anything to go by.

And he worryingly and darkly promises more of the intensive same this weekend. ”I will keep on risking it,” is his scary vow,” and everyone should expect that.”

The result of his robustness was a third place for him in the Chinese Grand Prix, one place behind Vettel.

He made a bid to justify his dubious action by stressing: ”I had a really good start. You see a gap, you go for it. It’s a risky move — but we are both, Seb and me, on the podium.”

And he continued: “Seb knows me better now — and I now know we can compete with Ferrari.”

His joy at racing in Russia is overwhelming and he emphasises: “It is my aim to do as well as I possibly can. And I shall be giving it my all. It is my dream to be on the podium.”

He was an amazing fifth last year, ahead of world champions Raikkonen, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, and 14th in the Sochi circuit’s opener in 2014.

The Rome-based multi-linguist, a bright boy, a junior-class champion in his homeland before his capture by Torro Rosso then Red Bull for F1 duties, goes on: “It is fantastic that I am so well recognised and depended upon to be Russia’s most successful ever Grand Prix driver. And to have been honoured with a grandstand at the track named after me is just amazing.”

Let’s hope, whatever the pressure, and it will be enormous, he does not stretch himself beyond the limits of what is both safe and acceptable in his fervent drive for glory in the country of his birth.

If he gets within touching distance of, say, remorseless current champion Lewis Hamilton, seeking a third win in Sochi, and chasing an overdue 2016 win, he can be sure of a taste of his own medicine.

Vettel, looking on the bright side, opined earlier this week that he was confident he and the target of his scathing China GP verdict would have a real race in Russia.

My view? Don’t count on it...