Seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton has hit back at claims that he didn’t complain about dominance whilst he was at the front of the field, following recent comments about Red Bull’s current superiority.
Hamilton recently discussed Red Bull’s untouchable status since the new aerodynamic regulations were introduced, with the side having won 27 of the 32 completed races since the regs were changed.
The 103-time race winner has insisted that a single team being superior isn’t good for the sport or the fans, and that changes should be made to close the pack.
Following his comments for changes to be made to halt Red Bull, Hamilton has received criticism.
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Some have complained that Hamilton never spoke about a team being dominant as a bad thing whilst Mercedes reigned supreme, from 2014 to 2021.
In that period, Mercedes claimed eight consecutive titles, whilst Hamilton won six.
Following the criticism, the British driver has insisted that he held “conversations” about closing up the pack even whilst he was the dominant driver in the sport, something Max Verstappen currently is.
Whilst Hamilton admits that he wanted to be at the front during Mercedes’ dominant spell, he also wanted the racing to be “close”.
The budget cap was introduced in 2021 by the FIA to limit how much each team can spend, in an attempt to reduce the frontrunners advantage.
Hamilton believes the cap “hasn’t done that”, with the driver calling for more talks to be held on how to make the grid closer.
“I saw all the things that that spiralled into,” Hamilton told Channel 4. “And they’re like ‘you didn’t say anything when you were…’
“The truth is, it’s something we’ve been talking [about], we’d had conversations and we’ve been talking about it even when we were having our dominance.
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“I remember when there were times we had really good battles with Ferrari, and then I remember times where we had a chunk of a gap, and for me, that wasn’t really…
“Of course I wanted to be at the front and I wanted to be fighting, but having a half-a-second gap to the car behind, it doesn’t really feel… you wanted to have close racing, that’s what racing is all about.
“So I think they changed the rules, put this budget cap in, it’s supposed to level the field and it hasn’t done that. So, all I’m saying is we just have to continue to have the conversation.”