Lewis Hamilton has called on Formula One’s lawmakers to do more to inject excitement into racing.
And the seven-time world champion warned things had to change or else the sport faced the prospect of Max Verstappen and Red Bull running away with the driver and constructor titles every season until the next major planned changes in 2026.
Hamilton’s comments follow a processional Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend in which Sergio Perez led home the third Red Bull one-two of four races to date in 2023, with relatively little overtaking even for the more minor placings.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver said: “It’s definitely not boring from my perspective but, as a racing fan, I can understand [the boredom factor] because there’s not as much competition as they’re used to.
“We need to do better as a sport. They have already tried to bring the teams closer, but it never seems to work. All I can say is that we’re working as hard as we can to close up and get back to that… and give them some more excitement.”
Hamilton had a thrilling, occasionally fractious head-to-head with Verstappen for the duration of the 2021 season, which went down to the final lap of the final race in Abu Dhabi.
What followed was the biggest overhaul of the regulations in years for 2022, aimed at improving overtaking, since which Red Bull have increasingly dominated.
The drivers had already collectively voiced their disquiet at increasing difficulties at overtaking during races, with teams having improved the downforce of the new generation of cars. And after the dull procession of Baku, the dissent has only risen.
Asked if the changes had actually made overtaking worse rather than improved the show, Hamilton said: “It’s a really negative way to look at it. It’s good we’re trying to keep doing things to move forward and evolve.
“I think the technology has evolved. It is just unfortunate that we still see the same sort of gaps between teams.
“I don’t know what the solution is for the future, but we’re going to have to adapt these regulations moving forward, otherwise it could be the same as it is now for years until 2026 if we don’t do a better job, which we’re working on doing.”
