Hamilton calls for drivers to be consulted on F1 track choices

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton calls for drivers to be consulted on F1 track choices

He wants more say on where they race.

Paul Macdonald

Sunday 14 July 2019 20:00

Lewis Hamilton has urged Liberty Media to consult drivers in deciding which tracks should be included in the F1 calendar, in the wake of a thrilling British Grand Prix which followed an equally brilliant race in Austria.

Hamilton won at Silverstone for the sixth time and was involved in a superb battle with team-mate Valtteri Bottas for the first 10 laps before the safety car ended their fun.

In behind, Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen offered a glimpse of the future as they exchanged breathtaking wheel-to-wheel moves.

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These races came in the wake of one of the worst Grands Prix in history in France, and Hamilton feels that if the drivers had more input into which circuits work as a spectacle, the action would be all the better for it.

Speaking in the post-race press conference, he said: "Probably in the history of the sport, the drivers have never been a part of the decision making in terms of advising on tracks. We know better than anybody which tracks we can overtake and which we can't.

"I don't know who does the selection but there are ones being selected for the future which won't have such great racing. People always ask me my favourite tracks and this is one of them because you can follow. It is just spectacular with the high speed.

"And then we've got places where you can't follow, and it's like a train. What would you prefer? Having a race in those countries for the sake of having a race? Or do you want a great race like this?"

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Hamilton added that a country's participation in the calendar should mean that a number of options are considered in order to maintain a high level of excitement.

He added: "You need to look at the different options in the different countries. So hopefully the GPDA [Grand Prix Driver's Association] can be part of this next step in the 2021 rules and be a part of advising on that.

"We're there to help make the sport better, if they're open to the idea of changes or adapting on tracks, or even using a different circuit in the countries then we should look into that."