Lewis Hamilton praised the driver introduction ceremony which took place before the Miami Grand Prix – but had little support from his Formula 1 rivals.
It was made known that, before the Florida race, the procedure would be a little different with some form of ceremony planned. Most details were shrouded in secrecy, but rapper LL Cool J was signed up to host while Will.I.Am produced a new F1 song.
As it turned out, the Black Eyed Peas frontman would be conducting an orchestra on the grid as, one by one, the drivers were introduced to the crowd. It did not go down too well with online fans and most of the drivers didn't exactly react enthusiastically either.
Hometown hero Logan Sargeant was up for it and grabbed the microphone to hype up the Miami crowd, while Hamilton gave LL Cool J a hug as he came out to greet the fans. But otherwise, the Americanised gimmick was met with a great deal of apathy.
"I think it's cool that the sport's continuously growing and evolving and they're not just doing the same stuff that they've done in the past," said Hamilton of the ceremony. "They're trying new things. They're trying to improve the show always and I'm in full support of it.
"I mean, jeez, I grew up listening to LL Cool J and now LL Cool J's there – that was cool. Then you look over, you've got Will.I.Am, who's an incredible artist. You've got Serena and Venus [Williams] standing there. I thought it was cool, it wasn't an issue for me."
But his Mercedes team-mate George Russell was among those most critical of the move. The younger Brit said: "It is distracting. I'm here to race, I'm not here for the show, I'm here to drive and I'm here to win.
"We're on the grid for half an hour in all of our overalls in the sun. I don't think there's any other sport in the world that 30 minutes before you go out to do your do your business, that you're out there in the sun, with all the cameras on you, making a show of it."
Race winner Max Verstappen agreed with Russell. "I did have enough preparation before, to speak to my engineers and stuff for the race. But personally I think this is just a bit of a personality thing. Some people like to be more in the spotlight, some people don't. I personally don't.
"So, for me, I think that naturally what they did today is not necessary. I prefer to just talk to my engineers, walk to my car, put the helmet on and drive. But of course I understand the entertainment value."
And Fernando Alonso was left to pray that such an introduction does not become a pre-race tradition. "I understand the point of view of everybody but I’m not a big fan of those kinds of things just before the race," said the Spaniard.
"If we have to do it, I think we need to remove some of the other stuff we are doing like the parade lap or something like that, because it’s really in the middle of the preparation with the engineers and the strategy meeting."
