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Lewis Hamilton has taken a contrarian stand on driving in the extreme conditions in the 2023 F1 Qatar GP. The Mercedes driver crashed out on the very first lap of the race and watched the proceedings from the sidelines.
The drivers however that took part in the entire race were not happy with the conditions in which they had to race. There were multiple cases of drivers checking into the medical centers with dehydration. Logan Sargeant had to end his race early because he was unable to race in those conditions.
Alpine driver Esteban Ocon revealed after the race that he fell sick on lap 15 and puked inside his car. Arguably the worst of all was Lance Stroll admitting after the race that he was passing out in the fast corners.
Fernando Alonso, Stroll's teammate, also suffered semi-burns on his backside, and on top of that, even the FIA released a statement that it will keep track of the conditions in extreme scenarios. Lewis Hamilton, however, has shared a somewhat contrarian view in all of this as he said that F1 is an extreme sport and drivers just have to adapt to what's put in front of them. He told Sky Sports:
"My feeling towards it is... this is an extreme sport. You don't have marathon runners who are passing out after the marathon, saying you have got to make it shorter.
"This is an extreme sport and we are paid very highly for what we do and from my perspective when I've not been feeling great at the end of the race, I've just got to train harder and that's how it's been for me."
The seven-time World Champion added:
"I don't personally want them to shorten the races and make it easier for us. I want it to be extreme. I want to feel the difference, I want to feel pain in my body, I want to be able to, hopefully with that extra bit of training that you put in or that extra bit of dedication that you have had, helps you get that extra lap and win that race. That's what this is about."
Let's not get too soft: Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton emphasized that we have to be careful about how we move with the changes. The Mercedes driver took the example of Aryton Senna's era where if you went over the white line, you touched the grass and you crashed. He said, via the aforementioned source:
"We have got to be careful how we move with changes. We have got track limits and all these big runoff areas. Back in the (Ayrton) Senna days, you go over the kerb, it's grass and you pay the penalty. It's like, 'let's not get too soft!'"
Lewis Hamilton further touched on the example of Nigel Mansell passing out at the end of the race to state how tough it used to be. He said:
"Of course, if I was in the race, I would have struggled to get out afterwards also. But, I love that. That makes it closer to what it was back in the day, where Mansell was passing out after a race - this is extreme and we are supposed to be elite athletes and to be elite, you need to be pushing to the limit."
Lewis Hamilton's views are certainly different from the mainstream narrative on the issue and they also reflect the elite mentality that he's had all his career.
