Even so, Vettel still managed to extend his title lead 14 points, as he emerged ahead of Hamilton before leading him over the line in fourth.
"I hope as we are gaining in competitiveness that we can - I think we are too far out of contention to compete for the championship - but I think we're gaining performance and speed to be able to compete for race wins, as we get more performance on the vehicle".
But this is the first time they have been main rivals for the title, and the pressure is showing.
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"He disgraced himself today, to be honest", Hamilton said after the race. "I like to think that I remain respectful and I'll continue to do so". We are working to win the world championship for f*** sake.
But while Ricciardo celebrated on the podium in Baku with Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas and the Williams of Lance Stroll, all eyes were on Hamilton and Vettel, with both critical of each other's driving.
The incident happened when the pair were driving slowly behind the safety auto, following a series of unrelated crashes involving other cars.
The tensions simmered when Vettel felt Hamilton had deliberately slowed down under safety auto conditions, causing slight contact between the two.
The German insists that Hamilton had brake tested him, and that he should also have been penalized.
"The stewards looked at my data", Hamilton said.
Sebastian Vettel 'disgraced' himself with car chop in Baku, claims Lewis Hamilton
It is all just noise in the background, I don't care. "I had to overtake everyone". "It just shows you should never give up. It was an extraordinary performance from Stroll, the son of a billionaire, who faced heavy criticism earlier in the season.
The Australian, who was Ferrari driver Vettel's team-mate at Red Bull in 2014, won the race after dropping to 17th on lap six following a chaotic sequence of events, which included three safety auto deployments, multiple crashes and the sight of Hamilton having to give up the lead to fix a loose cockpit head-protection device.
In Spain last May, Hamilton had spoken about how enjoyable it was to be battling a rival who was not a team mate - his main opponent for the past three seasons - and the admiration he felt for Vettel's speed and consistency. "He brake checked me as well, so what do you expect?" the German said. He's done something similar a few years ago in China so. "It's just not the way to do it".
The cruel luck was at least tempered when Vettel was ordered into the pits for a 10-second stop-go penalty.
A sullen-looking Vettel chatted to Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene, while Hamilton slipped on his headphones as he listened to music with his sunglasses on.
Earlier this month, Stroll earned his first ever top-10 finish at the Canadian Grand Prix in his hometown of Montreal.
Up at the front Ricciardo was in the lead and would stay there until the end to take his first win of the year. Then he passed the shoe to Stroll, who - barely old enough to drink - took a swig of bubbly mixed with sweat.
By now the debris was so widespread that the race had to be stopped for the track to be cleaned-up.
Hamilton was on pole position for the 66th time, with Bottas next, followed by Kimi Raikkonen and Vettel fourth.
"Driving dangerously which in any way can put another driver at risk. we were going slow, if we'd been going fast it could've been a lot worse".
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