‘Dope’ car design makes Hamilton want to race on
Lewis Hamilton has said he is ready to extend his career beyond 2020 after giving his seal of approval to Formula One’s next-generation car.
Ahead of tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix, F1 provided a glimpse into the future when a prototype was unveiled of the machinery the sport hopes will inspire a new breed of fan.
Ross Brawn, the English engineering mastermind who oversaw Michael Schumacher’s record seven championships at Benetton and Ferrari, is at the helm of F1’s technical body, and he led the presentation at the Marina Bay street circuit yesterday.
The 63-year-old has promised to create beautiful cars, closer racing and fiercer competition. One key feature of the proposed cars will be the increased diameter of the wheels, from 13 to 18 inches, in a bid to make it easier for drivers to race.
Despite his recent title triumphs Hamilton, currently 30 points clear of Sebastian Vettel, has been disappointed with F1’s technical direction. But the British driver, using typically colourful language on his Instagram account, gave a thumbsup to the futuristic design that he believes will convince him to keep going beyond his next deal with Mercedes, which expires shortly before his 36th birthday.
“This s--- looks dope af [as f---],” he said to his 7.2million followers. “I’m definitely going to be driving if the cars look like this.”
F1’s big reveal yesterday was not without its hiccups. The design featured the sport’s former logo, which was abolished after the Bernie Ecclestone era, while Brawn admitted that the controversial Drag Reduction System – a boost button which aids overtaking – may remain in 2021. The team principal for Ferrari, Maurizio Arrivabene, said he was less than impressed by the concept.
“I asked our engineers what they thought, and they said it was a bit underwhelming,” he said.
But Brawn, who has been in talks with the sport’s 10 teams over his plans, is confident he is taking the right steps.
“One of the primary objectives has been to improve racing, and how close the cars can get to each other without losing performance,” he said. “The current cars can lose up to 50 per cent of their performance when they get to within one or two car lengths, which means they struggle to race each other. We now have designs that lose only 20 per cent of their performance.”
He added: “The aesthetics are very important to us, and we want cars that young people will stick on their walls. It frustrates me when a car in a video game looks better than a car we have out on the track.
“I am optimistic we are going to be able to produce great-looking cars that race more effectively.”
On track yesterday, Hamilton trailed Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen by just 0.011 seconds. The championship leader had a heart-in-mouth moment when he nearly crashed into Vettel at the right-handed turn 14, before taking evasive action and running off the track.
Vettel finished a distant ninth after yet another mistake. He banged into the barriers at the final chicane and sustained damage to his car. As such, he completed just 12 laps, the fewest of any driver, to leave him on the back foot heading into the remainder of the weekend.