Lewis Hamilton Believes F1 Is In The 'Stone Age' Compared To NFL

Lewis Hamilton gave a scathing outlook about Formula 1 after suggesting that the sport has been in the “stone age” compared to other global sports, namely, the NFL and soccer.

The British driver has been critical of F1’s management in the past and voiced his opinion only recently about their reluctance to consult the drivers about how the sport can be improved.

The new owners — Liberty Media — who took over from Bernie Ecclestone just over two years back have made some changes to F1 since taking over. They have changed the rules for 2019 to improve racing and reduce the amount of aerodynamics to the car, but Hamilton and F1 title rival Sebastian Vettel admitted that the drivers were not involved in the discussion.

The four-time world champion does not expect that to change and believes the decisions will be made by the hierarchy, but has backed the new owners to make the sport more popular.

Ecclestone employed a very authoritarian model of running the sport and was averse to the sport being accessible to the viewers on different platforms. But Liberty Media have brought about change after opening the doors for social media to be involved in promoting F1.

The drivers are encouraged to provide more access to the fans during the race weekend, while the new owners have also looked to make the entire weekend entertaining for the race fans on the track. It is a move that has received praise from Hamilton and he is confident that the new owners led by CEO Chase Carey can bring about the change that is required.

"Nope. It hasn't ever been the case up until now, so I don't anticipate it being the case in the future,” Hamilton said about the drivers being involved in the decision making process, as quoted by Motorsport.com. "But I do believe in Chase [Carey, F1 CEO] and his team wanting to bring change.”

"Really, Formula 1 has been in the Stone Age compared to NFL and soccer and all big other sports and we're trying to catch up, but it's a long process," he said.

"It's a big job for Chase – he has only come in a couple of years ago, before that social media wasn't allowed in. Bernie [Ecclestone, former F1 CEO] said it was not important,” he added. “Now something as big as social media is huge and a really powerful platform, and now that's allowed if people want to use it."

Hamilton is happy that F1 is now reaching territories previously unaware of the sport. It was recently revealed that there could be a race in Vietnam in the near future.

The British driver is opening to the sport conquering new territories, but warned that it will not be enough merely to take F1 to a new country, but that the racing should also be interesting for it to leave a lasting impression.