Lewis Hamilton believes the margin for error at modern Formula 1 circuits is too great, suggesting the layouts at tracks like Oulton Park and Donington Park provide a greater challenge.
The issue of track limits and design had a brighter spotlight shined upon them in the closing races after Max Verstappen saw a last lap move on Kimi Raikkonen penalised for cutting the track in Austin and then the lack of action in Abu Dhabi was blamed on the inability to stay close through the technical corners.
Managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn has already revealed a study into circuit design is being conducted along with efforts to make the cars more race-able but the world champion suggests the key is to make the drivers think before each turn.
“The FIA have done an amazing job [with safety], but they’ve really got to stop with these run-off areas – you shouldn’t be able to cut a corner like you see [at some tracks],” Hamilton was quoted by Autosport.
“What I love about the olden days, if you go wide you’ve got to lose time. Now you can approach a corner knowing that if you go in five percent too much you can go wide and come back on. I don’t love that.”
The Mercedes driver would put forward examples such as Donington’s Old Hairpin and double-apex right at Coppice where precision is key, adding: “That’s the sort of corner F1 is missing. If we had that back in F1, it would bring another level to the challenge.”
One way F1 looked to increase the difficulty was to introduce faster cars in 2017 which saw cornering speeds increase dramatically, particularly at higher downforce circuits.
“The high-speed corners this year have been awesome,” Hamilton admitted. “Pouhon at Spa; the best corners of the season are generally Austin [turns] 3-4-5-6-7 – they are awesome.
“Silverstone, Copse and then Maggotts and Becketts; Suzuka Esses – they are the special ones.”
