‘I feel for the fans’ – Lewis Hamilton admits Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominance has spoiled F1 season

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he “feels for” Formula 1 fans, admitting that Max Verstappen’s cruise to the world title has somewhat spoiled the 2022 season.

The Dutchman is unlikely to be mathematically confirmed as champion in Marina Bay, but an early coronation is nonetheless all-but-certain with five races to follow the weekend in Singapore.

A dominant defence of his crown stands in stark contrast to Verstappen’s maiden win last year, when Hamilton was pipped in contentious circumstances on the final lap of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton, then, concedes that it is fair for fans to consider this campaign as a disappointment with the destination of the Drivers’ Championship a foregone conclusion.

“Definitely, I feel for the fans,” said Hamilton, who sits sixth in the standings, of the 2022 title race.

“For everyone and even for us last year going down to the wire, that was intense for everybody and so it’s never great when the season finishes early.

“When I’ve experienced [winning world titles but] having it finish early in places like Mexico – for you as the one individual, it’s great, but for the actual sport it’s not spectacular.

“So I’m really grateful to have had 2008 right down to the last 17 seconds, and obviously last year pretty much the same thing. So let’s hope for the future it’s a bit better.”

It looked early in the season like Leclerc would mount a genuine challenge to Red Bull’s defending champion.

The Monegasque took two of the first three races of the season to lead the early championship standings, but has since faded from true overall contention.

“It’s not achieved what it was supposed to achieve, so we’ve failed in that,” Hamilton told Sky Sports.

“When you fail once you try again, and if you fail a second time you continue to try.

“I hope that more changes are made to try and bring all the teams closer and create better equality throughout the racing space. It’s my hope we can all be closer.

“Red Bull has walked away with it this year, they’ve done a great job.”