Lewis Hamilton is not concerned about the intention of the international motorsport federation FIA to ban the so-called ‘party mode’. The Briton emphasizes that Mercedes will not slow down.
According to various media, the FIA wants all drivers to ride with the same engine position during the Belgian Grand Prix at the end of this month, during qualifying and the race. Since it is not feasible to use ‘party mode’ during the race, teams will no longer be able to use that engine tuning in qualifying.
The forthcoming change seems to be especially detrimental to Mercedes, which often turns up the engine in the final stages of qualifying to get the most out of the power source. The gap between the British team and the rest may soon be slightly smaller.
“This change is clearly intended to slow us down,” Hamilton said on Thursday in the run-up to the Spanish Grand Prix Motorsport.com. “This also shows that the guys with us have done a great job with the engine. But the FIA will not get the result it wants.”
‘The FIA is always trying to slow us down’
Mercedes is again dominant in qualifying this season. In the first five Grands Prix of the season, pole position went to Valtteri Bottas or Hamilton, who is therefore not surprised that the FIA wants to curb the dominance of the German team.
“This comes as no surprise, they are always trying to slow us down,” said the reigning world champion, who won three out of five races this season. “But it won’t make a big difference, so I’m fine with the FIA doing this. It’s not a problem for us.”
The 35-year-old Hamilton is chasing the 88th Grand Prix victory of his career this weekend and his fourth victory in a row at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is scheduled for Sunday at 3.10 p.m.
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