Lewis Hamilton: 'We don't write the rules'

The French Grand Prix did not offer the most intense spectacle for the first places yesterday, Lewis Hamilton largely dominating his subject in front of his teammate at Mercedes Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc completing the podium with his Ferrari without being able to worry the two W10s.

Asked about the current face of racing in the discipline, the world champion wanted to remove all responsibility from the drivers. "If you say it's boring... no, but if you do, I completely understand it, comments Hamilton after the finish during the press conference at Paul Ricard

Don't point the finger at the drivers, because we don't write the rules, we have nothing to do with money matters, that kind of thing... We should put pressure on the people who are at the top , which should do the job.

I think they're trying, but they've made bad decisions for many years. Do I have confidence that this will change? I am convinced that things will get better, I really hope so.

So much so that I went to Paris last week to take part. I was at this meeting, observing all the bosses of the F1...I don't see anything to gain from it, but if there is anything I can help...

They made all these decisions and never took into account the opinion of a driver in this room, so if this can be the deciding point that helps change and the fans can benefit from better racing, I will be proud to be part of this.

We're basically trying to walk in the door and trying to be a part of it, and for many, many years, they didn't want us in the room. They are engineers and they are the ones who make the decisions and we are just the pilots.

But the fact is that we know how the car behaves and therefore we have good reviews, positive and negative, which can only influence a decision […] It was encouraging to see that they allowed us to be there and they were really welcoming, which was great, and I hope they continue to welcome us. »

Technical regulations in focus

Hamilton is particularly targeting the next technical regulations for 2021, which will see the appearance of new single-seaters with a spectacle expected to be much better thanks in particular to new aerodynamics. A technical base which should promote better races as hoped by the Mercedes driver, who, despite certain reservations, places his confidence in the current work of Liberty Media and the FIA.

“They postponed the decision on the rules (we will in fact have to wait until at least the month of October), recalls the Briton. I think they had to do this because they are nowhere near what it should be, in my opinion, and they need to make some serious changes to the decisions they have already made about 2021.

What encourages me is that Ross (Brawn, Motor Sport Director of Liberty Media) and his team are working for the first time on a true aerodynamic package that will hopefully impact how single-seaters can track each other.

But as I said, increasing the weight of cars is not a good thing. People really appreciated the speed of the cars of the early 2000s. It has to be Formula 1, the pinnacle of the sport and the fastest cars in the world.

It's not only that, it's also the format of the race weekend which can, perhaps, change a little bit for the fans, on how to attract spectators. » Message got through.