Max Verstappen was crowned F1 champion for the third time in Qatar, but the race weekend was mainly dominated by the tire problems revealed by Pirelli. According to the seven-time world champion, it is logical that tire problems will arise, especially given the way the FIA and F1 are currently tackling things.
“We need to see an improvement in terms of organizational skills and procedures,” said Hamilton, who made it clear that the blame for the problems should certainly not be placed solely at the feet of Pirelli. According to Hamilton, the FIA and F1 are also partly responsible.
Lewis Hamilton believes that more and, above all, different testing should be done with the new F1 cars. According to Hamilton, circuits should be used where the load on the car and the tires is greater, in order to get more representative tests.
“We ultimately need to get a better tire as a product,” Hamilton said. “It is certainly not just the manufacturer’s fault.”
“We have a huge limitation on testing. We don’t test on a circuit that has high-speed corners like this one.”
“I even suggested during the meeting that we should do the three days of pre-season testing here. After all, this is the most taxing circuit of the entire year.”
According to Hamilton, the higher weight of the cars also contributes to the current problems. The load on the tires is therefore incredibly high.
“Whoever makes the decisions at the FIA, we have the heaviest cars and more downforce than ever before with a lot of fuel and so on. Then you have these tires, you can expect problems.”
“If you go back in time, we were fast with half as much downforce, there was a lot more grip with the Bridgestone and Michelin tires. They will definitely have to look at it because next year it will be even tougher.”