"I feel for the whole team" - Lewis Hamilton sympathizes with Ferrari after 2022 F1 French GP disappointment; advises team 'to continue to keep their heads down’

Lewis Hamilton advises Ferrari to keep working hard and progressing in its fight against the Red Bull F1 team. The seven-time world champion empathized with the Maranello-based team and Charles Leclerc and felt that they would bounce back and advised them to keep pushing.

On being asked to comment on the current drivers' championship, the Briton answered Sportskeeda’s question in the post-race press conference, saying:

“Moving forwards it’s been great to see the pace of the Ferrari this year. I’m gutted for Charles [Leclerc], who’s being doing a great job, as has Carlos [Sainz]. It’s not easy though, having that pace and that performance and maintaining it. It’s a tough job and I feel for the whole team because I know what that can feel like. But they’re a great team, and they’ll continue to keep their heads down.”

The Mercedes driver empathized with Ferrari and Charles Leclerc, who crashed out of the 2022 French GP. The 37-year-old driver was surprised by Max Verstappen’s title lead which is now 63 points, and felt it could get unpredictable with 10 more races left on the calendar.

Commenting on his 2021 title rivals and their lead, Hamilton said:

“Yeah, massive gaps, obviously pretty huge so that’s pretty smooth sailing in that space generally. But a lot still can go wrong up ahead so I would just advise them just to continue to push.”

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Lewis Hamilton believes the rules need to progress for more contenders in the championship

The seven-time world champion feels there are still only two teams contending for the championship, like it was before the 2022 regulations. Suggesting that the rules need to progress and evolve, Lewis Hamilton feels more teams should be able to contest the championship.

Speaking about the new regulations and the 2022 championship, the Mercedes champion said:

“Just with the rules, the rule change I think has been positive in many ways, however it’s not necessarily really changed the order as such. If you look, there’s always been two teams most likely at the front and there’s been that middle-pack gap and even coming into these new rules, regulations, you’ve pretty much seen that same thing. So I’m hoping that the rules progress and improve and the teams can all be a little bit closer.”

Red Bull leads Ferrari by 82 points in the constructors' championship, but Verstappen leads Leclerc by 63 points in the drivers' championship. Lewis Hamilton is sixth in the Driver Standings with a total of 127 points, while Mercedes is only 44 points behind Ferrari with a total of 274 points in the constructors' championship.