Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team driver Lewis Hamilton, says he agrees with Ross Brawn’s concept of holding a non-championship F1 event once a year, to try out alternative race formats.
Brawns idea was to run the event so that any new suggestions for a different race structure could be tested without being detrimental to the world championship, and Hamilton feels that this would be hugely beneficial to the sport.
The Brit also told reporters during testing at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, that he believes F1 is definitely in need of a shake-up, and would welcome mixing things up at different races.
“That doesn’t sound like a terrible idea [from Ross Brawn] – a new format is definitely needed for Formula 1.
“Thursday to Sunday has been the same for the last 11 years, since I’ve been here.
“With the way these cars are, with the continued direction in design which makes it difficult for us to overtake, we’ve got to come up with something different.”
The three-time world champion proposed that the Monaco Grand Prix would be a great place to start, and would be a fitting example of somewhere that a change of format could work wonders, the Monte-Carlo street circuit being renowned for its lack of overtaking possibilities.
“Maybe every other race is a different scenario? When we get to Monaco, we can’t just do the same race format because nobody can overtake there.
“Maybe they need to spice it up and do something different. Maybe have a sprint race?
“I don’t know. There are lots of ideas but I’m not going to share them.”
Hamilton was highly complementary about the way in which Liberty Media have come in and immediately tried to improve the spectacle of F1.
The Brit has always championed bringing the sport closer to the fans, and is hopeful that with the support of everyone involved, they can make it more appealing and grow its fan base tenfold.
“It’s great they are coming up with new ideas. The potential of Formula 1 is not yet reached in terms of global success, it’s far from [reaching] it to be honest.
“I’m hoping with the help of everyone here these guys will be able to squeeze out that extra bit to take it to the masses.
“I don’t know if it’ll ever be as big as football, but closer to those guys.”
