After Mexico GP penalty controversy, Lewis Hamilton expresses frustration with modern F1 tracks

Lewis Hamilton expressed his frustration with modern F1 tracks after he was on the wrong end of a 10-second penalty at the Mexico City Grand Prix. The 7x world champion claimed that the newer circuits do not provide enough of a penalty to drivers who go off the track onto the run-off areas.

Lewis Hamilton suffered yet another underwhelming weekend at the recently concluded Mexican GP, finishing eighth after having started from P3. The Briton's race was ruined by a 10-second time penalty, which he was awarded for leaving the track and gaining an advantage amid a battle with Max Verstappen.

The Ferrari driver was also left frustrated by his teammate, Charles Leclerc, who overtook him by leaving the track on Lap 1, but received no penalty. An overall disappointing day in Mexico even led to Hamilton sharing his frustrations about newer circuits on the F1 calendar.

"You can never go too far when it comes to safety. But today's circuits are very different from the 1990s or early 2000s. Back then the run off areas were grass and if you went too far you paid the price," said Hamilton [via formule1.nl]. "You ended up in the gravel or damaged the car. Nowadays you can just run wide and get back on track. I am not a big fan of that but it is the reality," he added.

Hamilton then praised historic circuits, including Zandvoort, Silverstone, and Suzuka, claiming they have real character. He also described these tracks as "old houses" that have soul.

The 40-year-old also hit out at sprints, claiming that there are numerous tracks where the shortened races are simply "processions". He then criticized the decision to have a sprint in Singapore in 2026 based on the same logic.

---

F1 heading in the right direction overall, claims Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton at the Chinese Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Despite his criticism of the new generation of racing tracks, Lewis Hamilton still admitted that F1 is heading in the right direction. He expressed that he enjoyed seeing the sport growing so rapidly around the world in the past few years.

Speaking about the sport's progression in recent years at the Mexican GP, Hamilton explained:

"Overall I think Formula 1 is going in the right direction. It is great to see how quickly the sport is growing globally and I am happy that we are attracting so many new fans." "When I started the crowds were largely the same and the old management was not very progressive," he added.

F1's global popularity has skyrocketed since Liberty Media's takeover of the sport in 2017. The new owners shifted their focus towards commercializing the sport and building a much more accessible brand, which is completely the opposite approach from the Bernie Ecclestone-led consortium that previously owned the Formula One Group.

Edited by Riddhiman Sarkar