Hamilton casts new fears over racing abilities for 2017

Lewis Hamilton has cast fresh doubts over the overtaking abilities of the 2017 Formula 1 cars after speaking with his engineers. Mercedes are set to unveil the W08 later today, but Hamilton is worried about the potential lack of excitement Formula 1 cars could bring.

With much more downforce being added to the cars, they will enable drivers to push through corners at much higher speeds. This will then produce more dirty air for the car behind, supposedly making it more difficult to follow the car ahead.

While we have seen this occur more and more in recent years, some engineers have voiced their opinion, stating it won't effect the racing any more than it has done up to now. However, three time world champion Hamilton is not so confident.

"My engineers say it's going to be a lot harder to overtake," Hamilton told the BBC. "If we see overtaking is worse, it's going to be worse for the fans, the spectacle will be worse so I'm hoping that's not the case.

"For example, I heard tyres might not be as grippy as we'd hoped but the aero downforce is going to be huge because it's a bigger, wider car so there's going to be more downforce, so the car behind will be affected even more than it ever was before. And I've heard the engineers said this would potentially happen and there is an alternative route but this is the route that's chosen.

"So we are where we are and I really hope that the engineers, who are the smartest guys, are wrong and I hope that the spectacle is greater and the most competitive that it's ever been and if it is, then I look forward to being part of that."

Since the last regulation overhaul three seasons ago, Mercedes have dominated the F1 scene, but Hamilton thinks there is a chance for someone else to race the superior car next year.

"It's a completely new slate," he added. "It might be Ferrari at the front, it might be Red Bull, we have no idea. I think the big unknown is Red Bull, I think they always create an amazing car and this is a new area of downforce and they're amazing at creating downforce so I think it'll be really interesting to see what they pull out and I'm hoping it'll be a real mixture of competition. I hope it'll be close so we'll be fighting with Red Bull and Ferrari. That's what the fans want to see."

Fergal Walsh