06/12/2017
NEWS STORY
Being world champion and Lewis Hamilton, it comes as no surprise that at a time of year all and sundry are hosting awards ceremonies and effectively slapping one another on the back for the great job done over the preceding twelve months, the Briton can pick and choose which events he actually attends.
While attending the FIA prize giving gala at the iconic Chateau de Versailles on Friday is compulsory, the Halls of Fame event earlier this week wasn't. And though he opted to miss the Autosport awards in London, Lewis Hamilton did make it to the subsequent BRDC Awards, using the occasion to hit out at the sport.
"From a racing driver's point of view you just want to be able to race closely like you could in karts," he told an audience that included Chase Carey. "Kart racing is the best form of racing still, because the guys follow each other so closely.
"The cars this year are the best they've ever been," he continued. "Looking at the next step, I believe Ross and Chase and the teams are really working hard to make sure that the next cars in 2021, they're even more raw.
"I hope they make the cars louder," he admitted. "You can have bigger tyres... why did Jackie have big tyres back in the day and we've got smaller tyres? Maybe a little less downforce, maybe we can race closer.
"There's no reason why a GP2 race, or F2, or whatever you want to call it, should be louder and sound better, and be able to have better racing, and follow closer. And that's what we've somehow got to make in F1, while it's still faster than the other classes."
While few will disagree with the world champion's comments - especially his call for less downforce - once again, the big question is whether the sport can really afford to continue until 2021 without addressing some of the issues he raises.
Hamilton also believes that more needs to be done in terms of promoting the sport, the Briton feeling that it still lags behind a number of other global sports.
"I think everyone has an opinion about it," he said. "It's not about what I want, it's just F1 has been a little bit behind other sports. It's such a special sport. You look at the NFL, you look at soccer, you look at all these other sports which happen to have a little bit more of a global awareness, I think F1 has the scope to be as big as those.
"I think the great thing with Chase and the team from Liberty coming in is they've really brought something new into the mix this year, whilst they're learning at the same time about the sport, and what the fans want."
Indeed Lewis, the fans really wanted that new logo.
Picture Credit: BRDC/Twitter