Party mode ban "kind of amusing" for Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton

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Party mode ban "kind of amusing" for Hamilton

Six-time F1 champion left chuckling over reasons behind change

Ian Parkes

Thursday 3 September 2020 19:41

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Lewis Hamilton has conceded to amusement over the reasons outlined for the abolition of Formula 1's 'party mode' that comes into force from this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

A technical directive has been issued to all teams who are no longer able to increase power throughout qualifying, with the rule now that the output from the power unit must remain constant throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Mercedes has previously made clear that while there may be some effect over one lap, the ban will help them during a race.

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Hamilton has been left smiling by the conflicting stories that have emerged as to why the power boost has been outlawed.

"I find it kind of amusing that the FIA said that it was to manage everyone's usage of the engine, or something like that, and then Red Bull came and said 'We were the ones pushing for it', so there are completely different reasons why they did it," chuckled the six-time F1 champion.

"I just think it's a compliment at the end of the day. Hopefully, the guys back at the factory see it as a compliment that they've done such a fantastic job with the engine.

"But we will continue to work and improve with the situation we've been given and it will be interesting to see how it plays out this weekend."

Assessing the overall picture for the W11 going into the race at Monza, Hamilton added: "[We will have] Better race pace. Naturally, we will lose a little bit but it's not the end of the day.

"Everyone is potentially going to lose something but maybe some more than others. No-one particularly knows I think, but I don't think it's going to be a problem for us."

From a personal perspective, Hamilton has confirmed to enjoying the management side of his power unit, although on the flip side it is now one less dial to have to alter during qualifying and a race.

"Personally, I like being able to control when you use some of the life of the engine, where you save it," said Hamilton.

"That's kind of been a strength of mine in terms of saving engine mileage through the year and making the engine last longer.

"They've taken that away, but it means we have to worry less about this machine and switching over to anything else."

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