Lewis Hamilton: If I was an F1 fan now I'd only watch the highlights

Lewis Hamilton

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Hamilton: If I was an F1 fan now I'd only watch the highlights

Mercedes driver accepts races are boring with him winning all the time

Ian Parkes

Monday 31 August 2020 10:51

Lewis Hamilton has recognised the impact his current dominance of Formula 1 is likely having on the sport's television audience as he has revealed if he were a fan now he would likely only tune into the highlights.

In the Belgian Grand Prix, Hamilton produced another commanding lights-to-flag performance to claim his fifth win this season, and the 89th of his F1 career to leave him two shy of Michael Schumacher's all-time record.

The Mercedes driver is aware that what many armchair fans are witnessing now, is similar to what he experienced when he was a teenager watching Schumacher win five titles in a row from 2000 to 2004.

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Suggested to Hamilton his performances were off-putting to viewers, he said: "I can’t speak for the fans but having been a fan, growing up, having lived in different eras, watching the Schumacher era, of course, I know what it’s like.

"As soon as the start was done, and the restart, you generally know that I don’t make too many mistakes so you kind of… It’s very difficult to overtake at this circuit so I can imagine, it’s definitely not the most exciting."

Reflecting on watching the Schumacher era, in particular, Hamilton added: "I would have woken up, had my bacon sarnie [sandwich] and probably watched the start and gone to sleep, and then woke up to watch the end.

"If I was watching today I would do the same most likely and watch the highlights because it’s much shorter, unless a friend told me there was a super exciting race on TV so that you watch the whole thing."

Hamilton, though, concedes there is nothing he can do, notably as Mercedes has simply adapted to the regulations better than its rivals, leaving him to hope the major rules overhaul for 2022 will help spice the racing.

"Ultimately, this is not what fans… people need to understand that this isn’t our fault," insisted Hamilton.

"At the end of the day we’re drivers, we’ve all come through the ranks, we’ve earned the positions that we have and we come in weekend in weekend out, devoted and give absolutely everything to go out there and perform at our best.

"The decision-makers who design the cars, who set the rules and those kinds of things are the ones that you could apply pressure to, to ultimately do a better job moving forwards, if that’s possible.

"I’m hopeful that’s what they’re going to do in 2022, and with that new type of car, maybe we’ll see a different form of racing where you can follow. Wouldn’t that be something if we can follow closer and have more close races?"

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