F1 News: Lewis Hamilton And Sebastian Vettel Criticize Proposed 2019 Changes

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel launched a scathing attack on the Formula 1 hierarchy after hearing that the rule changes for next year will make the cars slower by almost 1.5 seconds compared to 2018. The duo were speaking at the post-qualifying press conference on Saturday where the Briton had just taken pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The current cars are the fastest they have been in a number of years and the drivers have raved about how enjoyable they are to drive especially in fast corners. However, due to the high aerodynamic downforce on the cars, it is difficult to follow, which has limited overtaking opportunities at certain circuits.

The new owners of Formula 1 are adamant that racing needs to be entertaining at all times and the lack of overtaking at certain tracks have seen them change the rules for the 2019 season. The changes include a simplified front wing and brake ducts and a bigger rear wing flap to make DRS more powerful — all of which will make the car less aerodynamically efficient and slower compared to its 2018 counterpart.

Hamilton and Vettel were unhappy with the proposed changes and suggested the drivers should be consulted to find out what changes can aid overtaking. They made it clear that they want to move forward rather than backward.

“I don’t think it’s particularly… I think in the sport and in technology we’re developing and moving forwards all the time to pull us back," Hamilton said, as quoted on F1.com. "It’s not going to make any difference if you make it… if you make us three seconds slower or a second and a half slower, it’s not going to make the racing any better and we just want to go faster, we want to improve technology, we want to push the boundaries and the limits.”

“Yeah, I agree, I think… I find it a bit comical: why, in 2009 we went, let’s go less aerodynamics and better racing and so on? In fact I think it didn’t change too much. Then we said the cars are too slow, let’s put more aerodynamics and make them wider, more spectacular,” Vettel said. “All the drivers’ feedback was thank you very much, spectacular, that’s what we would like, more challenging, you see us more exhausted after the race, and now we want to make them slower again.”

“I think you should ask us what we need to overtake,” Vettel added before Hamilton said: “We should make the decisions.”

The 2018 season has seen some spectacular racing with three teams battling at the top and the changes proposed have not gone down well with almost the entire grid. The two four-time champions were not the only one to criticize the modifications ahead of the 2019 season.

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner called the decision to fast track the changes “immature” and “rushed” and believes it could have an impact on the smaller teams, as the cost to implement the changes will be enormous.

"I find it a little surprising," Horner told Autosport. "Going from the Strategy Group where no one supported it to a week later a couple of big teams supporting it, it was amazing.”

"The regulations have been rushed through, a lot of them are in conflict with existing regulations, so there's going to be a meeting on Sunday to tidy it up, whether that's achievable or not."

"The problem is that it's very immature research, it's focused on 2021, and so there's no guarantees that it's going to have the desired impact that's required. Cherry-picking invariably never works,” the Red Bull boss added.