According to Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1’s move towards heavier and wider cars from 2022 is taking a step in the wrong direction.
The seven-time World Champion mentioned that he had always preferred to drive lighter cars.
He also adds that moving on to heavier cars will be a backward step for Formula 1 as a whole and counters its drive to improve sustainability.
Cars will weigh almost a ton
It is estimated that F1 cars in 2022 will weigh 790 kg which is almost 100 kg heavier from the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014.
With a full tank of fuel, the car will end up weighing almost 900 kg which will increase the carbon footprint of the car.
“I don’t understand why we go heavier, particularly when there’s all this talk about being more sustainable and the sport going in that direction,” Hamilton said.
“By going heavier and heavier and heavier, you are using more and more energy. So that’s not really going in the right direction or the right thought process.”
Quality of races to get compromised
Hamilton also thinks that heavier cars will reduce the overall quality of races.
“Lighter cars were more nimble and nowhere near as big, and so racing and maneuvering the car was better,” he added.
“On the tracks we are going to they are getting wider, like [Baku], but like Monaco was always relatively impossible to pass but now the car is so big that it’s too big for the track.
“As I said, as we get heavier and heavier, that’s more energy we’ve got to dissipate, bigger brakes, more brake dust, and more fuel to get you to the location and so on, so I don’t fully understand it.”
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
He’s ? percent right wider and heavier cars is a bad idea. They’re going backwards, I wanna see faster cars not slower. Might as well watch Indy cars.
Absolutely..
F1 cars could be as low as 500 kg (they used to be even less). Stop obsessing with passive safety. Use other means and anyway there should be one driver death every year or they are not in the lease brave. None of them deserve 1/100th of their salaries
this was cruel!