Lewis Hamilton has wasted little time lost in a sea of self pity and sorrow over losing the world drivers title to his erstwhile teammate, Nico Rosberg, and is already focusing on the 2017 Season. During an interview, not with DCB, Hamilton said it would be ”strange” not to see Nico Rosberg at the other end of the garage after he announced his sudden retirement.
On new Finnish teammate, Valterri Bottas, Hamiton said : “I have known him a little bit from being at the track and he seems a really nice, pleasant guy and I look forward to working with him and racing against him. I always welcome challenges and competition.”
But Hamilton’s real focus is on the challenges faced by the new generation of faster F1 cars. New regulations have been ushered in for the 2017 season that will see lap times fours seconds faster than 2016 spec cars.
Hamilton said he does not know if he is physically fit enough to cope with the new level of speed despite training harder than ever before.
Sauber were the first team to unveil their 2017 F1 car and the new regulations are there for all to see, swept back wings, bigger tyres, a 30 percent increase in downforce, a larger floor area and wider and lower wings. The 1.6-litre V6 Turbo engines remain unchanged.
These aerodynamic changes will result in F1 cars taking higher loads through the corners, increasing the levels of G-Force on the driver which in turn makes driving a 2017 spec car more physically demanding.
Pirelli have also been instructed to develop tyres that do not degrade the harder the driver pushes as has been the case for the last few seasons.
Therefore in 2017 drivers will naturally push harder and faster throughout a race distance. Although Hamilton believes that the tyres will be harder as a result.
The harder tyre compound will make the cars less grippy and this could actually reduce the amount of overtakes and possibly diminish the spectacle of F1.
However Hamilton believes that the new owners of F1, Liberty Media, should be able to take the sport into a new direction and make it more accessible to the fans.
Hamilton isn’t too worried for his sake as he believes that his team will once again dominate and that Red Bull could pose a serious threat to Team Mercedes F1.
These aerodynamic changes will result in F1 cars taking higher loads through the corners, increasing the levels of G-Force on the driver which in turn makes driving a 2017 spec car more physically demanding.
Pirelli have also been instructed to develop tyres that do not degrade the harder the driver pushes as has been the case for the last few seasons.
Therefore in 2017 drivers will naturally push harder and faster throughout a race distance. Although Hamilton believes that the tyres will be harder as a result.
The harder tyre compound will make the cars less grippy and this could actually reduce the amount of overtakes and possibly diminish the spectacle of F1.
However Hamilton believes that the new owners of F1, Liberty Media, should be able to take the sport into a new direction and make it more accessible to the fans.
Hamilton isn’t too worried for his sake as he believes that his team will once again dominate and that Red Bull could pose a serious threat to Team Mercedes F1.
