British motorsport legend Damon Hill has urged Formula 1 to listen to Lewis Hamilton, after the world champion called for bosses to make the sport more exciting.
Following his French Grand Prix victory – his sixth win in eight races this season – the Mercedes driver responded to the grumbles from F1 fans about his team’s domination.
The 34-year-old, widely expected to claim his third straight world championship title with the silver arrows, says neither he nor his team are to blame and instead pointed the finger at the sport’s bosses, particularly former chief Bernie Ecclestone.
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“Don’t point fingers at the drivers, we don’t write the rules,” said Hamilton, whose team-mate Valtteri Bottas has won the other two races.
“We have nothing to do with money shifting, all that kind of stuff. You should put the pressure on the people at the head, who should be doing the job.
“This is a constant cycle of Formula 1 for years and years and years, even before I got to F1, and it’s because the way Bernie had it set up and the decisions they were making back then. It’s still the same.
“Until that management structure changes, it will continue to be the same, in my opinion. That’s not my job to do that. My job’s to come here and do the best I can as a driver.”
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And, speaking to talkSPORT host Jim White on Tuesday, Hill insisted Formula 1 chiefs should sit up and take note, saying the structure and balance of the sport is wrong.
“I think they should [listen], he speaks from the heart,” said the 1996 F1 champion.
“I think what he’s referring to is not necessarily the current incumbents; I think what he’s saying is that the sport has never really taken on board the beliefs, the knowledge and the desires of the people who compete.
“In football you have the PFA, but in our sport the decisions about how the sport goes and the direction which things are done are predicated on what the teams and manufacturers want.
“F1 is divided into two championships – the Constructors’ Championship and the Drivers’ Championship. This is where the problem arises.
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“The Constructors’ Championship has taken over in importance over the years, far more so than the Drivers’ Championship, even though the people who watch Formula 1 are not interested in the Constructors’ Championship!
“What Lewis is saying is the structure is wrong, the balance is wrong.
“What is needed is input from the athletes, the people actually in the arena doing the racing, to have an influence on the show, the event itself. There isn’t enough input.
“Obviously Lewis did another brilliant job at the weekend, he dominated the race, but unfortunately for all of us it was a big yawn.
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“I can’t complain, I also drove cars in a dominant era and every driver wants to have a bit of an advantage, but the races I’ve loved and the races people remember are the closely fought races where the cars are evenly matched.
“The thing that attracts young people to go and race is the racing itself. And the racing decisions, the way they try to bring about cars that are satisfying to race and spectacular to watch, both good for the drivers and good for the fans and, those tend to take second place to the other considerations.”
Listen back to talkSPORT’s interview with Damon Hill IN FULL above
Source: TalkSport.com Motorsport
