Lewis Hamilton expressed his disappointment regarding the track where the Qatar Grand Prix is being held, describing the Doha race as the worst of the season. The seven-time world champion strongly criticized the FIA, accusing the governing body of a lack of thoroughness and foresight. Ferrari left the final sprint race weekend of the year with just 4 points, completing a disastrous three-day race for the Briton and Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton took his complaint straight from the drivers’ briefing, where he was confronted with the FIA’s indifference to the track’s structural problems. “I had a good first lap, and after that it was quite boring,” Hamilton told GPblog. “When I was at the drivers’ briefing, I asked them the question: ‘Did you see last year that there was no overtaking? Why haven’t you, for example, increased the DRS zone?'” he wondered, then laughed at the officials’ reaction.
The Briton stressed that the lack of foresight extended to track design issues, which could have been easily fixed. “And they said, ‘Oh, hmm, we hadn’t thought of that.’ And I said, ‘Then what are you doing?’” Hamilton also mentioned the absurdly long 26-second pit lane, which could have been made shorter. According to the 40-year-old, these structural problems, combined with the limitations of the tyres, made the race a dull affair.
Hamilton summed up his experience by blasting the race, while also being quick to acknowledge the organisers’ efforts. “We have this 25-lap limit on tyres, so, I mean, it’s one of the worst races, it’s probably the worst race, you know, when you can’t overtake. And so, it’s a beautiful place and it was very well hosted,” he added. “So they have to find some other solution. I hope you write about how bad this fight was, probably to watch. I imagine it was bad enough to watch,” he said.
