Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton has criticized plans to make grands prix 15 kilometres shorter next year, saying it “makes absolutely no sense.”
In 2027, Formula 1 races will be two or three laps shorter (depending on the length of the circuit) due to changes to the engine regulations that will result in higher rates of fuel consumption.
In order to avoid teams investing in costly chassis redesigns to accommodate larger fuel tanks, the FIA announced last week that it would shorten races from 305km to 290km.
“The races should be longer because they are physically easier than ever before,” Hamilton was quoted by the Press Association ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“This is supposed to be a sport which is the most physically and mentally demanding, and there are some where you are on the edge.
“But that is where you want to see -- athletes right on the edge of performance and pushing their bodies further, pushing the levels and pushing the boundaries. Shortening the races makes absolutely no sense to me.”
The shortening of races stems from complaints made by drivers about this year’s hybrid engine regulations, which initially targeted a 50/50 split between internal combustion power and battery power.
The notional 50/50 split proved to be closer to 53/47 in favour of the internal combustion engine, but the regulations still resulted in cars that regularly run out of electric power around circuits where energy deployment is high and energy harvesting is limited.
For next year, the rules have been tweaked to achieve a 58/42 split -- which will become 60/40 in 2028 -- but in order to increase the power output of the internal combustion engine, it will need to consume more fuel.
Accommodating the extra fuel needed to complete a 305km race distance under the tweaked regulations would have required teams to make costly redesigns to their chassis, so the FIA reduced the length of the race by 15km to allow them continue with the existing fuel tank size.
Hamilton admitted he had not been briefed on the reasons for the changes, but is concerned the shortening of races will reduce the physical challenge and limit tyre strategy options.
“I don’t really know anything about it or any of the reasons they put it up behind it,” he added.
“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 [tyre compounds] that can pretty much all do the race distance.
“So we have a lot of races where it’s only a one stop. It’s not particularly challenging.
“So for me, there’s been many races where I wish we had more laps. It’s the opposite that I would be asking for [which] is longer races, to be honest.”
