Lewis Hamilton feels the caution of Formula One bosses and its younger drivers has taken away some of the sport’s “seat of your pants” wet-weather driving.
The seven-time world champion was speaking in response to last weekend’s shambolic scenes in Malaysia, which saw drivers effectively unable to power their vehicles in the wet conditions.
The ‘Bahrain Grand Prix’ held at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia was overshadowed as F1 bosses had to abandon the start when a number of drivers, including Max Verstappen and Hamilton, were struck by gremlins – directly linked to the controversial 50-50 split between combustion and battery power – on the formation lap.
The grid eventually limped back to the pit lane and the race got under way after a 53-minute delay. It later emerged that new software had to be downloaded to the cars.
As a result of the painstaking delay, the track was significantly drier than it was at the scheduled start time – with cars deployed on a mixture of intermediate and slick tyres.
Full-wet tyres are seldom used in modern F1 and Hamilton was asked whether – aside from the unprecedented software glitch – a more conservative pattern has developed when it comes to racing in the rain.
“Wet-weather races aren’t the same as we used to have, for sure,” Hamilton said in Singapore ahead of this weekend’s race.
“I’ve had great races, in 2008 in the rain, and ultimately back then we had more testing and we did have better tyres for the rain. I love wet racing more than anything else.
“I do think the guys running the show are far more cautious but then again the young drivers coming in are more and more cautious.
“Us old-school drivers are like ‘let’s get racing’, and more of the youngsters are like ‘let’s not race’. So they’re (the FIA) getting two different bits of information, and they are super cautious as well.
“That’s where I’m like ‘let’s get going’. That’s where we really get to test ourselves. Is it more risky? Absolutely.”
Hamilton has made a reputation as an outstanding wet-weather driver, highlighted by his brilliant 2008 win at Silverstone, and again showed his prowess to fight back to third having dropped to 18th after mistakenly starting on slick tyres.
“When I was out on the slick tyre, it was the trickiest conditions,” Hamilton added.
“It was wet, I was on slicks, but I love that challenge. And that’s what racing is, where you have to drive by the seat of the pants, and that’s really where you can make the difference.”
Cars will receive a software update in a bid prevent a re-run of the embarrassing scenes in Malaysia.
Having pledged a full investigation, governing body the FIA revealed on Thursday that a “software bug” was at fault and plans updates across the coming races should similar conditions be faced.
“The review concluded that some cars running on low engine RPM in certain circuit sectors where a 250kW power reduction was applied experienced a loss of power beyond the original intent and that could not be recovered in those sectors,” an FIA statement read.
“As a result, the configuration established for the Sepang event will be reinstated for the Singapore Grand Prix should similar weather conditions be expected. Additionally, a further update to the wet weather software will be released for the United States Grand Prix on October 25.”
Verstappen, who has been the fiercest critic of the 2026 regulations, hopes for a far simpler set-up when the next regulations are devised.
He said: “The problem is it is very complex, I just hope the next rule set is easier. You should be able to go out, have a brake pedal and throttle pedal and that is what is deciding the lap time.”
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