The veteran Mercedes driver knows the real reasons why Formula 1 is no longer attractive to the general public
Lewis Hamilton, the most successful Formula 1 driver, has attributed the lack of competitiveness in F1 to the sport’s regulators (FIA), stating that constant rule changes “never seem to work”. The total renewal of the technical regulations last season represented one of the most significant changes in decades, but the effect has been anything but what was expected.
The F1 implement radical changes in aerodynamics, going from top airflow to ground effect to generate the downforce of the vehicle. This transformation was implemented with the intention of reducing the differences between teams and boosting competitiveness.
A boring Formula 1 season according to Hamilton
However, this year, there is only one team, Red Bull, which is setting the pace of the Grand Prix. With five races run in what is now a 22-race season, it looks like they already have a hand in the championship trophies. This is because he has won all the races played, four of them with results 1-2.
With their rivals not even coming close, and Red Bull easily pulling 30 seconds ahead at the finish line. In this way the fans have criticized what seems to be a boring season. So there are only two drivers from the same team dominating the races. Hamilton accepts that it is “boring” and has blamed the sport’s bosses for meddling with regulations. “As a fan of the races that he watches, I can understand that there’s not as much competition as maybe there is in the NFL or NBA right now,” Hamilton said.
Failed attempts to balance the competition
“Although the sport has already tried to bring the teams closer together, it never seems to work. All I can say is that we are working as hard as we can to close the gap and give them more of a fight,” he added. Before the introduction of aerodynamic ground effect cars, the F1 he had probably his best season in years in 2021.
Hamilton and Max Verstappen competed wheel to wheel for the world title, with the battle decided in the last round of the season. However, it took seven years to achieve this, as changes to the 2014 engine regulations had put Mercedes ahead of the rest of the teams, with Red Bull and Honda eventually narrowing the gap.