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FIA president Mohammad Ben Sulayem has cited Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher's dominant seasons as reasons why Red Bull should not be penalized for its success. The new regulations have seen the Austrian team steal a march over everyone else.
The 2022 F1 season saw some battle between Ferrari and Red Bull early in the season but once Max Verstappen took the lead, there has been no looking back. Even Mercedes had opted for an innovative solution on its car that had seemingly not worked and left Lewis Hamilton helpless in his battle for the title. The title was sealed by the Dutch driver without much of a fight last season.
Even in 2022, the same thing happened with Lewis Hamilton as well suggesting that maybe an FIA intervention to slow down Red Bull might not be a bad thing. The FIA president was, however, not in favor of any such intervention to slow down the Austrian team. As quoted by Motorsport.com, he said,
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“It [domination] has happened so many times: just look at Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher. How to stop? It's a bit harsh and not right to go and punish success. I mean, I'm open for suggestions if you think that there is a way to be fair and to be democratic, and not to just punish Max and his team or any other team. We're all ears here really."
“But I'm stuck like you. There's no way that the FIA will punish success, and it [one driver dominance] has happened before twice in my time, he added.”
Lewis Hamilton eager to check out the new upgrades
Talking about the upcoming upgrades, Lewis Hamilton admitted there was a level of excitement in checking out what the team had brought to the table this weekend. Talking about his first reaction to the upgrades, Hamilton said in the pre-race drivers' press conference:
“All the amazing people back at the factory have worked incredibly hard during the whole season and hopefully [it] tips the needle a little bit and puts us in the right direction of where we want to pursue next year. I don’t know exactly all the different parts of the circuit that I’ll feel it but hopefully it’s a global improvement and hopefully it puts us a little bit closer to the guys ahead.”
It will be interesting to see if the package brings any kind of gains for the weekend and what it bodes for the next season as well.
