LEWIS & SEB’S RACES DISPUTE
SUNDAY MIRROR
RACE RIVALS Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are at loggerheads over the proposed expansion of the Formula One season.
The 2017 campaign will stretch over 248 days, from this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix until November 20 and the final race in Abu Dhabi.
But the sport’s new owners Liberty Media, who paid £6billion for the franchise last year, have a long-term vision of a 25-race calendar.
And while Hamilton, who is bidding to win his fourth drivers’ championship, would be in favour, Vettel would rather resist further tinkering.
The Brit said: “I think if you asked any member of my team whether they’d want to do more races or less, they’d ask for more. It is definitely tough on the guys that are travelling, but they love it, they’re addicted to it.
“I love racing so I’m not opposed to more races, but I think they’ve got to change the structure to spice it up and make a period during the season that’s perhaps more exciting than another.”
But Vettel, expected to be Hamilton’s closest challenger, argued: “I think 25 is too many, I think 20 is enough, we don’t need more. I think anything between 16 and 20 is the right number.”