Lewis Hamilton calls out F1 2027 decision which ‘makes no sense’

Lewis Hamilton says that shortening races from F1 2027 “makes absolutely no sense” to him. In fact, Hamilton wants longer races than F1 currently has.

The FIA, Formula 1’s governing body, recently revealed that, after the latest F1 Commission meeting, a reduction in overall race distance for F1 2027 has been approved.

Lewis Hamilton does not back shorter F1 races

In an FIA announcement ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, it was confirmed that the overall race distance will shrink from 305 km to 290 km in F1 2027. Depending on the circuit, that equates to around two or three laps. Monaco retains its 260 km race distance.

This tweak has been made in response to the increased power unit fuel flow rates coming in F1 2027. There will be a balance shift in internal combustion versus electrical power, more in favour of the ICE, for an approximate 58-42 split.

Hamilton does not approve of reducing the race distance.

“I don’t really know anything about it or any of the reasons they put up behind it,” Hamilton began, when speaking with PlanetF1.com and others about the announcement, ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

“I think the races should be longer, because the races are physically easier than ever before. So shortening, I don’t think, makes much sense.

“If you think about this weekend, we have the C3, 4, 5 [tyres] that can pretty much all do the race distance. So we have a lot of races where it’s only a one-stop. It is challenging, but they’re making tyres that just seem to go longer. So for me, there’s been many races where I wish we had more laps.

“So it’s the opposite that I would be asking for, is longer races, to be honest.

“I mean this is supposed to be the sport that’s the most physically demanding. Mentally and physically. There are some that are just so hot and ultimately you are on the edge. Like Singapore is incredibly hot and demanding. Malaysia will be crazy this year.

“But that’s where I think you want to see athletes, just right on the edge, right? Right at the edge of their performance, having to actually push their bodies further, because that’s what this sport is about: pushing, pushing the levels and pushing the boundaries.

“So shortening the races makes absolutely no sense to me.”

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Hamilton has raced throughout various eras of Formula 1, having made his debut all the way back in 2007 with McLaren. He has not missed a season since.

The now-Ferrari racer was therefore asked when the hardest races physically occurred in his career so far.

“My first year, naturally, because it was first year in F1, and that was a killer to get your body to acclimatise to it all.

“2020 was tough as well, I would say. That was the period where the car was at its fastest, the most downforce I think we’d had, and so physically, that was the most challenging I’d say.

“But there’s a lot of these changes that have come over time, added all these run-off areas, which I dislike personally. I miss the older days where it was a little bit more risk averse in terms of run-off areas. Not so many run-off areas, more grass and gravel, but obviously that’s not the way it is today.”

Formula 1 has already released the full provisional 2027 calendar.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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Continue reading: Complete F1 2027 calendar officially released