Hamilton wants more fight from Red Bull, Ferrari
LEWIS HAMILTON insists the onus is on F1 chiefs to ensure incoming regulations make the sport more competitive. The Mercedes driver secured his third win on the spin at last Sunday’s British Grand Prix.
While Hamilton would love to be going wheel-to-wheel with the likes of Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, he admits Mercedes are a long way ahead of their rivals. “Honestly, look, I’m a through and through racer at heart,” said Hamilton, while sitting between Verstappen and Leclerc.
“I’ve grown up, particularly when you’re in karting, you’ve got the wheel-towheel racing, that’s what has always excited me, and that’s what gets me up in the morning.
“This is not the championship fight I would have hoped for. I’d much, much prefer to be having a super-close battle with these two here because that’s what gets me going.”
Verstappen sits 30 points adrift of leader Hamilton in the drivers’ standings. Red Bull are second in the constructors’ table but there is a gulf of 68 points between them and Mercedes.
Ferrari, meanwhile, are now battling the likes of McLaren and Racing Point for places on the second and third rows in qualifying, let alone regular spots on the podium.
Ferrari chairman John Elkann admitted the Italians are looking to 2022 – when new regulations are brought in – to fight for race wins again.
And Hamilton says managing director Ross Brawn and F1’s other power brokers must get it right otherwise another era akin to Mercedes’ spell of dominance is on the cards.
“I really, really hope that in future it’s closer,” said Hamilton. “It’s rules. Ultimately every team is given rules and at the end of the day we’ve just done an exceptional job collectively and you can’t fault my team for that. That’s not our fault.
“You have to look at the people that run the sport doing a better job moving forwards… and then hopefully we’ll get some more-like karting races in the future.” – Express Newspapers