Lewis Hamilton says he regrets that Max Verstappen could win his second championship so early in the season, saying he feels for the fans in such a one-sided contest.
Verstappen has his first opportunity to seal the title at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix with five races remaining.
Doing so would equal Nigel Mansell’s domination of the 1992 season, when he won the championship at round 11 of 16.
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Only Michael Schumacher has won the championship with more rounds to spare, winning his fifth crown in 2002 with six races still to run.
But Hamilton, who has won two final-round championship showdowns and lost three others, said he lamented that Formula 1 fans would be subjected to five dead rubbers because of the domination.
“From my point of view, I‘m not really thinking much about it,” he said. “Definitely I feel for the fans, because that’s for everyone — even for us last year, going right down to the wire, that was intense for everybody.”
Five of Hamilton’s championships have come in relatively one-sided campaigns, though he’s never won a title with more than three rounds to spare despite Mercedes’s sometimes significant advantages over the rest of the field.
Hamilton’s seven championship
2008: final race (Brazilian Grand Prix)
2014: final race (Abu Dhabi Grand Prix)
2015: three races to spare (United States Grand Prix)
2017: two races to spare (Mexican Grand Prix)
2018: two races to spare (Mexican Grand Prix)
2019: two races to spare (United States Grand Prix)
2020: three races to spare (Turkish Grand Prix)
Hamilton’s title defeats
2010: final race (Abu Dhabi Grand Prix)
2016: final race (Abu Dhabi Grand Prix)
2021: final race (Abu Dhabi Grand Prix)
The Briton said he acknowledged that his most dominant years were potentially detrimental to the sport and hoped that next year’s title would be won in a closer battle.
“It‘s never great when the season finishes early. Even when I’ve experienced having it finish early in places like Mexico — for you as the one individual it’s great but for the actual sport is not spectacular.
“I‘m really grateful to have had it like 2008, right down to the last 17 seconds, and obviously last year pretty much the same thing.
“Let‘s hope for the future that it’s a bit better.”
The odds are against Verstappen winning the championship this week, with a Charles Leclerc needing to finish no higher than eighth even if the Dutchman wins the race, but only a catastrophe would prevent him from sealing the deal next weekend in Japan.
Hamilton had hoped to bounce back from his demoralising 2021 title defeat this year, but Mercedes has struggled to adapt to the new rules, with the W13 proving a difficult beast to tame.
The Briton is now facing the first winless season of his professional racing career.
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But Hamilton denied that he was feeling the pinch of the difficult season, praising instead the work ethic of his team after eight successive constructors championships.
“We’ve still got six races. I‘m still enjoying the challenge and proud of the strength and the growth within our team in terms of the relationships, in terms of our focus,” he said.
“Just seeing how hard everyone works in a team is, for me, the most inspiring thing.
“They‘ve gone from the racetrack — you know, fly over Sunday night, they’re in the office on Monday trying to come up with solutions, trying to crack the code, and that’s really impressive because it’s just relentless, the season.
“I know everyone is looking forward to the break, so I hope everyone‘s planning ahead to maximise and make it efficient.”
