Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari could benefit from new regulations which come into play next year, according to former Haas principal Guenther Steiner. Hamilton is yet to finish on the podium this season.
He has a final chance to do so at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Despite that, the seven-time world champion has finished in the top 10 on 18 occasions.
Instead, his team-mate Charles Leclerc has taken the spotlight. He has stood on the podium seven times throughout the year.
The changes that are set to come in could though help Hamilton going into the new year, according to Steiner.
“Hopefully Lewis can come back,” he told Lottoland. “He never liked the ground effect cars, the cars under the current regulations.
“Next year, there is no ground effect anymore, so let’s see what he can do then. He will have been a year at Ferrari, he knows their culture, he’s more mature at Ferrari.
“Let’s see what happens next year. And if it isn’t happening next year, I think there will be some changes coming.”
If improvement isn’t seen next year, then the former Haas chief thinks retirement will be something that the driver thinks about. He said: “I think we all had too high expectations, the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, a GOAT, going to Ferrari, the most iconic Formula One team. And then, obviously beginning of this year, reality hits.
“For sure he’s giving himself next year to see where he’s at, and if he’s competitive for sure he’s staying longer. But if he’s not competitive, he’s over 40 now, he may be closer to the day.”
Upon announcing the change to regulations, FIA’s Sing Seater Technica Director Nikolas Tombazis said: “With this set of regulations the FIA has sought to develop a new generation of cars that are fully in touch with the DNA of Formula 1 – cars that are light, supremely fast and agile but which also remains at the cutting edge of technology, and to achieve this we worked towards what we called a ‘nimble car’ concept.”
The maximum wheelbase of a car has now been reduced to 3400mm, with the width cut to 1900mm. Cars also now have a minimum weight of 768kg, a reduction of 30kg.
