“We are all united,” Lewis Hamilton appreciates FIA’s efforts towards repairing relationship with F1 drivers,”


“We are all united,” Lewis Hamilton appreciates FIA’s efforts towards repairing relationship with F1 drivers,”

Sulayem and Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes Formula One driver, has recently showered FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem with praise for the work he has done and is still doing towards creating open communication between the F1 drivers and FIA.

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Mohammed Ben Sulayem took charge at FIA in December last year with the objective of repairing the relationship between drivers and FIA after the end of the controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton was denied the chance of securing his record-breaking eighth World title when Nicholas Latifi triggered a safety car, and former race director Michael Masi changed the whole complexion of the race with his bemusing decision-making.

The Brit was the only loser that day, and Hamilton while talking about the relationship with FIA recently said, “It’s not an easy role for anyone, I think it takes time to get into a role and build all the relationships and also to implement change.”

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But I think the most important thing for right now is the drivers. We are trying to build that connection with the drivers, all of us, the GPDA (Drivers’ Association), we are all united and we want to help make the racing better.

FIA
The FIA

We want to help the FIA, and Mohammed has been really open with that. So we are just going to continue to work on that communication. I’m in touch with him quite a lot. We actually speak quite a bit. And he’s very, very driven…he’s competitive.”

Lewis Hamilton is extremely pleased with the efforts of Mohammed Ben Sulayem

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton

After the end of last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, there were huge concerns about whether the FIA would be able to sort the mess that was created during the race, however, on the back of Sulayem, it seems they have managed to achieve its target and are now in complete harmony with the drivers.

Lewis Hamilton has been left very impressed with the work that Sulayem has done so far in his tenure as FIA President and while talking about him said, “

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He used to race himself, so he has a competitor sort of mindset. And he’s also very keen on diversity and really pushing for future change.”

So he wants to collaborate with us all on that. So I’m quite happy with it.”

George Russell
George Russell

While everything is good between the drives and FIA, the Mercedes Formula One team is not having a good season, and its drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, after 16 rounds, are fourth and sixth in the Drivers Championship.

However, with Singapore up next on the F1 calendar, Russell has come up with some positive news for the Brackley-based team’s fanbase.

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I think we understand exactly why at circuits like Zandvoort and Budapest why we were competitive, and we understand why at circuits like Monza and Spa we were uncompetitive.

Mercedes
Mercedes

That doesn’t mean that we can solve the issues overnight. But we’ve got to keep on developing this car and next year will sort of being an evolution of this and I think now we do have a totally clear direction of how to develop the car.

George Russell has given a positive indication regarding Mercedes’s prospects for 2023, however, they still have got six races to contend with in 2022, and it will be interesting to see how Mercedes will perform during the business end of the season.