Lewis Hamilton has a clear picture of what an exciting Formula 1 is. Somewhat less clear for the five-time world champion is how the 2021 rules work. “That’s a little like Brexit.”

When world champion Lewis Hamilton was recently asked about the new 2021 Formula One, Lewis set about a monologue that became his reckoning on the sport – certainly, the sport that gave the boy ‘from the slums of Stevenage’ everything, seems to be disturbed about Formula One and the rule-makers decisions.

“When I look back on my twelve years in Formula One and beyond, the regulations have been changed time and again – for example to reduce costs or to make overtaking easier. In general, the decisions weren’t very good.”

A fair point made however.

“Now we have Liberty Media in power and they’re struggling with the same problems as the leadership before: the fans aren’t excited enough, we have this gap between the top teams who have a lot of money and the midfield teams. It’s about more than changing the rules for cars.”

“We also have the entertainment aspect. We might have to adapt to the circuits. Maybe we should drive two races in Monaco, where it’s almost impossible to overtake, no idea…

“I don’t have any answers to all the questions either. But we really have to put certain elements under the microscope, one thing must be clear to us – we’re here because race fans want to see our show. So we have to make sure that they are happy. We have some races with sparsely filled grandstands. You have to ask yourself if these Grands Prix are being promoted properly.”

“If it were up to me, we’d have V12 naturally aspirated engines, manual gearboxes, no more power steering. I would make it as hard as possible for the drivers. I would make all these enormous run-out zones disappear. I want race cars from which I get out completely exhausted after a race, as if I had completed a marathon. Today it’s like I could drive two or even three race distances, no problem.”

“Formula 1 should be a sport for real men. Today these young guys come and it’s easy for them to find the limit. It shouldn’t be like that. It should be insanely difficult, so difficult that only the best can do it. THAT would be my Formula 1. Oh yes, and we need better tyres.”

Hamilton is not sure where the Formula 1 journey will go with regulations 2021: “It will be interesting to see if we are doing it right or wrong. For me it’s a bit like the whole Brexit box – who knows how it’ll all end. I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”