That is not a coincidence, newtonian physics just don't translate to action based, explosive space combat. You can play a high action, combat based game, or a realistic newtonian physics simulator. Combining them makes for very slow and unstable combat interactions
I completely disagree with this and any other statements to the effect that a full Newtonian flight model would make for slow, "unstable", or otherwise poor combat. It would be different from what Elite has now, but not intrinsically worse or less exciting.
That said, Elite: Dangerous is what it is.