Sep.12 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has come under fire from several rivals after repeatedly driving slowly on the racing line during Friday practice at F1’s new Madring circuit.
Yuki Tsunoda was visibly unimpressed at one point, giving the Ferrari driver a sarcastic thumbs-up from his cockpit after being held up.
Carlos Sainz was even more direct, accusing the seven-time world champion of making “no effort” to avoid obstructing other cars, while Nico Hulkenberg described one incident as “nasty”.
Ralf Schumacher also singled Hamilton out after practice on Sky Deutschland.
“What struck me was the man in red who seemed to be getting in everyone’s way, because he often drove in the middle of the track – Lewis Hamilton,” said the former driver.
“I don’t know why he does that so often. It was already noticeable in 2015! Driving slowly is actually unsportsmanlike towards the other drivers.”
The controversy came on a day when Formula 1 itself produced far less chaos than many had predicted at the intimidating new circuit.
After repeated incidents in Formula 2 and Formula 3, including a fiery accident, the F1 field was comparatively restrained apart from a crash for Arvid Lindblad.
Aston Martin’s Mike Krack said that was deliberate.
“It was clear that everybody told their drivers to be conservative, to preserve parts and to preserve the car and to have the laps done,” he said.
George Russell agreed that the real danger may emerge once qualifying begins and drivers start pushing closer to the limit.
“This is undoubtedly a high-risk track and I think all the drivers have probably been a bit more cautious,” said the Mercedes driver.
“Just wait and see what we see tomorrow!”
Russell nevertheless sounded impressed by Madring itself.
“Christ. This circuit is mental,” he noted at one point.
The Briton continued: “I would put this as a circuit as having less margin than Monaco. Purely because of the speed.”
“In Monaco, the walls are closer, but because you’re going slower, if you make a mistake, you’re not into the wall as quickly.”
Max Verstappen was less enthusiastic.
“I’m not a fan of street circuits, and that’s never going to change,” he said.
“I’ll always prefer a track like Spa. But they’ve set everything up well here and done a really good job.”
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