Hamilton calls on F1 ‘to do better as a sport’ after boring criticism

Lewis Hamilton has called on F1 “to do better” after the sport was recently labelled as ‘boring’ by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s domination has taken the lustre off a sport that has been in the ascendancy for a number of years.

Such supremacy has come at a time when the cars are also becoming more difficult to follow and overtaking has decreased as aerodynamicists have found ways to adapt to the rules that were introduced at the start of last season.

At a time when F1 is booming in the United States, it raises the question as to whether the fickle American audience will soon lose interest in a sport that has been boosted off the back of the Netflix boom.

“It is not my job to convince people to watch a sport,” said seven-time F1 champion Hamilton. “I’m not watching it, it’s not boring for me.

“I’m challenged every single day trying to get back to the front, so it’s definitely not boring from my perspective.

“But as a racing fan watching, I can understand because there’s not as much competition as they (the American fans) are perhaps used to with the NBA and NFL at the moment.

“That’s not my doing but we need to do better, as a sport.

“They have already tried to bring the teams closer but it never seems to work.

“So all I can say is that we’re working as hard as we can to close up and get back and give them some more excitement.”

F1 needs to adapt rules – Hamilton

The belief was that with the introduction of new aerodynamic regulations, the racing would improve.

For a while last year that was definitely the case, even if the cars were plagued by the porpoising effect.

Suggested to Hamilton this latest generation of cars are not as good as had been promised, he replied: “It’s a pretty negative way to look at it.

“I think it’s good that we’re trying new things, and it’s important that we continue to move forward and evolve, and technology has evolved. It’s just unfortunate we still see the same sort of gaps between teams

“I don’t know what the solution is for the future but we’re going to have to continue to adapt these regulations moving forward.

“Otherwise, it could be the same as it is now for years, until 2026, if we don’t do a better job, which we’re working on doing.

“I like the cars – without the bouncing. They’re a little bit heavy. I wouldn’t say making the cars heavy is a good idea.”