Lewis Hamilton might be forced to retract his recent criticism of the FIA after Formula 1 released a statistic that revealed a record-breaking start to the season.
Hamilton had claimed that the promised competitive nature of the new slate of regulations hadn’t been achieved, as Red Bull continue to dominate the sport.
2022 saw a new era of regulations come into effect, marking the biggest technical changes in Formula 1 history, as the focus shifted to ensure cars would be closer together in races.
“I think, last year for us was pretty bad with the bouncing because you’ve got the turbulence and the bouncing,” Hamilton recently told reporters.
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“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 they said it would.”
Unfortunately, while the seven-time world champion brings with him a wealth of experience, the facts don’t support his argument.
Formula 1 recently highlighted that, for the first time ever, every team has scored at least one point after the first three races.
McLaren and AlphaTauri completed this record in Australia, as the teams bagged their first points, in part due to a penalty imposed on Carlos Sainz during the last lap.
Despite the new record being set, Hamilton’s wider point seems to be about the significant pace difference between Red Bull and the rest of the grid, as no team seems able to compete against Max Verstappen.
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Verstappen leads the Drivers’ standings so far, looking set to secure a third world title if he doesn’t suffer from unfortunate reliability issues.
Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez is close behind him in the title race, followed by Fernando Alonso and then Hamilton in fourth.
The Constructors’ Championship appears more locked up though, as Red Bull has already secured an almost 60 point lead over their nearest competitors after just three races.