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Lewis Hamilton believes the natural bias of Formula 1 teams means that they shouldn't be involved when it comes to making decisions regarding the future of the sport.
Earlier this month, it was confirmed that the new 2021 regulations would be signed off in October, delaying the original date at the end of June.
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Teams are discussing the direction of the sport with FIA and Liberty Media, but Hamilton doesn't believe it should be that way, as he knows that teams will only input what they see will benefit themselves.
"Ultimately the FIA, they're the governing body. They need to make all the decisions," Hamilton said. "The teams shouldn't be involved in that in my opinion. The teams all want to do something for themselves.
"The boss might not like me saying that but ultimately, that's the natural thing with competitiveness. It's the same thing with football if all the football teams sat in a room and said 'the sport should be like this', they would push and pull for their own benefit.
"But if you get an essential group of people like the FIA and Liberty, their sole job is to make the sport great again. They should have the power and make the decisions."
Hamilton not encouraged by talk of heavier cars
However, Hamilton admits that he isn't encouraged about some of the rumours regarding the new cars that will be in use for 2021.
One suggestion is that the cars could be heavier, which Hamilton says will only worsen the current lack of on-track racing.
"Then again, they don't always have the right answer," Hamilton stated. "They're talking about making the car heavier. Why? They are already 130 kilos heavier than when I first got to the sport.
"What they don't know is that we have great brakes, they're as great as they can be.
"They're overheating and fading and if you make the cars 30 kilos heavier, it's worse for the brakes and you have to do more lift and coasting, more fuel saving."
Grand Prix of Belgium
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Replies (6)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
I disagree. Teams should absolutely be involved.. After all, that is how they know what to develop after. What they shoudn't do is have a decisive role in the implementation of that design. They should be consultants, advisors, nothing more. Liberty has at times been too democratic, and that is a trend they need to amend.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Surprised you didn't actually agree. If teams had equal influence on outcomes then it would make sense. But there will always be teams like Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull. Worst of all, Ferrari, who think they should have ultimate veto power on everything. So no, I don't see an optimal solution so long as we have teams involved
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
I think he's naive if he thinks the teams aren't involved.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Actually he kinda confirms he knows the teams are involved, he just says the teams shouldn't be involved in the process of designing the new rules, which I semi-agree with (see comment above, too lazy to repeat meself). As for "heavier cars mean greater fuel saving" - not when that weight could be down to bigger fuel tanks. I agree with him that we don't need much heavier cars, but a few kg's extra of fuel'd be nice methinks.
f1ski
Posts: 726
I feel the fia technical should take 4 coarsest of field and top mid field and works evaluate their performance on on track stats top speed lateral grip fuel consumption and tire wear how far apart are they and le top design personnel make an assessment cost to level the field, My gut is that MB has a conceptual element that is like your nose that no one else has seen that is so simple that would improve performance. Either that or they are cheating
Manto02
Posts: 93
"Mercedes helped fia design new rules for power unit" cit. Bernie Ecclestone 2015
"Top much blistering, mercedes asks for 0.4 that will be used in four races of 2018 and in 2019"
"Teams shouldn't be involved" cit. Mercedes driver