Seven time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has criticised the biggest overhaul in the sport’s regulations for failing to deliver the promised era of competitive racing.
The slate of regulations move the industry towards a focus on ground effect, hoping to allow drivers to follow more closely behind one another.
However, last season, it caused significant problems for some teams, including Mercedes, as porpoising hampered performance and even caused injury to some drivers.
At one point, after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Mercedes feared the porpoising had left Hamilton in so much pain he’d be forced to miss a race.
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This season, while the porpoising has been rectified, the races are not as competitive as the FIA had intended, with Red Bull dominating every Grand Prix so far.
Some in the paddock fear that the RB19 could be untouchable this season, especially after Max Verstappen showed he could start in P15 and still make it onto the podium.
“I think, last year for us was pretty bad with the bouncing because you’ve got the turbulence and the bouncing,” Hamilton told reporters at the Australian Grand Prix.
“Whereas this year, we don’t have the bouncing, so we have [fewer] issues following cars.
“I think it’s still a little bit better than the previous generation of cars, but it hasn’t delivered everything [the FIA] said it would.”
The pessimistic approach from Hamilton comes despite Mercedes showing that they can fight towards the front of the grid again.
At the Australian Grand Prix, George Russell qualified in P2, while Hamilton qualified in P3.
Although Russell suffered an engine failure that led to a DNF, Hamilton would go on to end the race in P2.
“I think this gives everyone in the team a boost and a glimpse of hope and this will spur everyone on and will inspire everyone to continue to push,” Hamilton said.
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“We know that if we can just bring a little bit of performance we can close the gap to the front.
“Still, there are going to be places where the gap is a lot bigger, so today, whilst the gap looks small, in other places, as I said, you look at the last race, it was a bit of a bigger gap.
“I think if we just try to stay consistent, we’ve got great reliability then we can continue to apply the pressure, bag those points and then when the car is right, maybe we can start fighting for wins. That’d be incredible,” he added.