LEWIS HAMILTON’S sixth win of the 2019 season in France last weekend was as impressive as any of the many stats he’s racked up this season as defending champion – but it’s his vision off-track that has stoked the most recent intrigue into the psyche of Britain’s best-ever Formula 1 driver.
His eyes are clearly fixated on the number one goal, another championship title to add to the five he already has – but Hamilton gave a little insight over a recent trip to Paris earlier this month, where he met with industry heads and deci- sion makers to talk about revitalising the sport.
BORING
While some dissenting voices deem F1 a little too boring, Hamilton said there was only so much he could do. “Don’t point the fingers at the drivers, because we don’t write the rules, we have nothing to do with the money shift- ing, all that kind of stuff,” he explained.
Staying positive, he said: “I have faith that it’s going to get better, I really, really hope so and to the point that I went to Paris last week to get involved. I was in that meeting, watching all the bosses of F1.
“I think there was the FIA and all the Formula 1 teams, and trying to get involved in... I have nothing to gain by it by being there, but if there’s anything I can help... they’ve been making all these decisions and never once had a driver’s input in that room, so if that can be the decisive point that helps shift it and the fans can get better racing, I will be proud to be a part of that.”
Refusing to give away too much about the meeting, he said: “What happens behind closed doors... obviously I can’t say a huge amount about it, but it starts off with the fact that for the first time all the drivers are united, so there’s the GPDA, which obviously started a long, long time ago.
“We have Alex Wurz who runs it for us, because he has a little bit more time than we do and he’s a great spokesman for us, but we all sit together in a room, particularly after the drivers’ briefing, and we talk about the issues.”
He added: “Was it encouraging? It was encouraging that they allowed us to be there and they were really, really welcoming, which was great, and I’m hoping that they will continue to have us there, some of us drivers or a couple of us drivers each time.”
PINNACLE
Always with the fans’ experience in mind, he said: “We need to get the cars lower, I think. People really enjoyed the speed of the cars in the early 2000s, I think it was. It still needs to be Formula 1, the pinnacle of sport and the fastest cars that there are around the world.
“So hopefully we will be part of it, hopefully we can make a real cool change and it’s not only that, it’s the format of the race weekend that maybe can shift a little bit for the fans, it’s how we bring the fans in, it’s all these things which can be better.”
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