Earlier this week, Lewis Hamilton made it clear that Red Bull’s dominance is not good for the sport. He also suggested that all the teams should start developing their cars simultaneously, so drivers like Max Verstappen don’t get an unfair advantage like the 2023 campaign. This led to a lot of criticism thrown at the seven-time world champion, but he rectified it by explaining what he meant when he made those claims.
Max Verstappen has dominated the 2023 F1 season so far. Out of eight races so far, the Dutchman crossed the finish line in the first six. Meanwhile, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez won the other two races. This is a clear indicator that Red Bull is by far the most dominant team on the grid. Ahead of the Austrian GP, Hamilton had a suggestion for the same.
Considering the fact that Verstappen and Red Bull are runaway leaders, it is evident that the Milton-Keynes-based outfit will start developing its 2024 car early. Hamilton feels that this shouldn’t be the case, and all the teams on the grid should get equal time to start working on their cars.
Lewis Hamilton clears the air after drawing criticism
Between 2014 and 2021, Mercedes dominated the sport and emerged as champion with several races to spare in most campaigns. Fans started criticizing Hamilton because they felt that he was never against a single team dominating the sport when it was him winning races.
Lewis Hamilton believes the FIA should select a date from which teams are allowed to start on next season’s car development to prevent some getting a head start. 👀 pic.twitter.com/oGADZTLqw3
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) June 29, 2023
However, Hamilton clarified that he wants these changes for every team, not just Max Verstappen. He insists that one team or driver dominating the sport isn’t particularly good for the long run, which is why he wanted the changes he suggested.
“This was not specifically intended for a person,” said Hamilton, as quoted by RacingNews365. “I’ve been through a lot here in the seventeen years and as you often see, there is always a period of dominance. That just keeps going on.”
“I am lucky that I experienced one of these periods and Max is now experiencing such a period. But as it stands, this keeps repeating itself. I don’t think we should want that in sports.”
Max Verstappen responds to Hamilton’s comments
Verstappen didn’t make a big deal out of Hamilton’s stance against Red Bull’s dominance. Instead, he made a blunt statement, that was seemingly aimed at highlighting the Brit’s hypocrisy. Verstappen recalled the moments when the sport was being completely dominated by Hamilton.
Verstappen responds to Hamilton’s suggestions of putting a restriction on when F1 teams can start developing their next car 👇 pic.twitter.com/dDQlzkA8D9
— WTF1 (@wtf1official) June 29, 2023
According to the Red Bull star, people didn’t talk about bending the rules against Mercedes when they were on top. Hence, he sees no reason as to why they have to get into this when the Austrian team has replaced them at the summit.
Verstappen, who is currently leading the world championship, will be looking to win Red Bull’s home race in Austria this weekend and extend his lead even further.
