Why Hamilton is critical of F1’s 2022 regulations

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has denounced the regulations set to come into force next year as going against the grain of the sport's drive for environmental sustainability.

Next year will see the introduction of major design changes that forced teams to start their new cars from scratch, but Hamilton is baffled by the decision to make the new machines 100kg heavier than at the start of the V6 turbo-hybrid era.

The world champion said: “I don’t understand why we go heavier when there’s all this talk about being more sustainable.

“Going heavier and heavier you’re using more and more energy, so that’s not necessarily in the right direction.

“As we get heavier and heavier, that’s more energy we’ve got to dissipate, bigger brakes, more brake ducts, more fuel to get you to the location, so I don’t really understand it.”

The reigning champion, who has previously indicated he wishes to continue in F1 beyond the end of this year so he can experience the new machines, also believes they should have been made smaller.

The current cars are significantly larger than their predecessors, and next year’s machines will have a wider rear wing in an effort to make it easier for cars to follow close behind each other.

However, Hamilton added: “The lighter cars were more nimble, nowhere near as big, so racing and manoeuvring the car was better. Monaco [for example] was always relatively impossible to pass but now the car is too big for the track.”

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