Hamilton rejects ‘hypocrite’ talk: ‘When I was dominating I wanted competition'

Hamilton has been vocal in wanting F1 to make changes to make the sport more competitive at the front following Red Bull’s new period of dominance.

Red Bull are currently invincible in F1 2023, winning 12 races out of 12.

Many fans aren’t taking Hamilton’s suggestions seriously given that he and Mercedes dominated the sport between 2014 and 2020.

In an interview with M4 Sport, Hamilton insisted he’s always wanted “the best competition”, even when he’s raced at the front in F1.

“It is their fault they’re dominating as they’ve done a better job than everybody. I think just from my own experience,” he said. “We hear about fans ‘well you had a dominating car too and now you complain’ but it’s not like that. 

“For us, we all want, even when we were at the front, you want the best competition always and you want it to be close. That’s what we’ve grown up dreaming up and what we go to race for to have competition. 

“I never went to a race as a kid and wanted to be multiple seconds ahead of everybody every single time but when you get a head start and have that buffer it seems easier with the way things are in our sport and the development.”

Hamilton once again called on F1 to make changes to ensure “eras” of domination don’t occur frequently, citing his own and Michael Schumacher’s as examples.

“Everyone progresses a similar amount in the year so it’s hard to close a gap,” he added. “It’s even harder now with the cost cap. We’ve said the era of Michael, the era of Red Bull, era with McLaren and with Mercedes, and now with Red Bull again, and I think it’s great for Red Bull. 

“They should bask in the glory and continue to enjoy it. We will work as hard as we can to stop that dominance at some stage but it could be that with the era that’s how it will be - this will be their era as it has been in the past. 

“We as a sport need to work better in terms of how the rules are set so that the fans aren’t deprived of those tight, close battles between several teams for a whole era.”