Lewis Hamilton fears bored F1 fans will switch off TVs as Red Bull duo Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez dominate
LEWIS HAMILTON fears fans could start switching off F1 if it becomes too boring.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez have dominated this season’s opening four races with the last Grand Prix in Azerbaijan a dull procession.
The sport arrived here in Miami facing accusations that it has lost some of its appeal due to predictable winners.
And Hamilton – who qualified 13th in Miami – says he has sympathy with TV viewers and insists teams need to adapt to the new rules or warns that it could take YEARS before someone else wins the title.
He said: “It is not my job to convince people to watch a sport. I’m not watching so it’s not boring for me.
“I’m challenged every single day to get back to the front so it’s definitely not boring from my perspective.
“But as a racing fan watching, I can understand because there’s not as much competition as there perhaps is in the NFL or the NBA at the moment.
“That’s not my doing. As a sport they have already tried to bring the teams closer but it never seems to work.
“All I can say is that we’re working as hard as we can to close up and get back and give them more of a fight.
“It’s good that we’re trying new things. It’s important we continue to move forward and evolve.
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“It is just unfortunate that we still see the same sort of gaps between the teams.
“I don’t know what the solution is for the future. But we are going to have to adapt to these regulations.
“Otherwise it could be the same as it is now for years.”
Meanwhile Hamilton says he supports F1’s decision to keep racing in new venues but believes it must not come at the cost of historic race tracks.
The F1 calendar is currently limited to 24 races and there will be a new GP in Las Vegas later in the year.
Grand Prix in South Africa, South Korea and a second race in Saudi Arabia are all in the pipeline and Hamilton says a balance is key to achieving a successful championship.
He added: “I like the direction that F1 is going. I have been here a long time.
“I like the change that we’re seeing and it’s exciting coming to different parts of the world.
“We’ve been going to all the other continents so I’m hoping we get to go to Africa soon. And that will be an amazing experience.
“But I love all the older tracks, they are always going to be the ones I prefer.
“It’s important that we continue to have those in the DNA — so a balance between the two.”