Hamilton does not long for his own dominant period: "It didn't bring as much satisfaction"

Lewis Hamilton hopes that the dominance of Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen will come to an end soon. The seven-time world champion states that dominance is not good for the sport, but he understands that it is part of the game. Hamilton himself has experienced the luxury of a dominant car, but he claims he wouldn't want it again for himself.

Last week, Hamilton called for rule changes to curb Red Bull's dominance, and the Mercedes driver essentially still stands by his statements. Verstappen and Red Bull are currently stringing together victories, and the Dutchman seems almost certain to secure his third consecutive world title after nine races. The ease with which Verstappen is achieving this does not appeal to Hamilton.

"Ultimately, that has been a problem in our sport for a very long time," says Hamilton in the BBC's Chequered Flag podcast. "There have always been dominant periods. I have experienced it, and I was really lucky to have it here with this team. Michael (Schumacher, ed.) and Seb (Vettel, ed.) had their phases, and now it's Max's turn (Verstappen, ed.). It's not yet clear how long this will last."

Hamilton cherishes wheel-to-wheel battles

Between 2014 and 2020, Mercedes reigned supreme, although it faced some competition from Ferrari in 2017 and 2018. According to Hamilton, those were the best years during Mercedes' dominance. "When we were dominant, the years we were fighting against Red Bull and Ferrari were the best years. When the gap was a bit bigger, it didn't bring as much satisfaction," says the Brit. "That's the phase Max is in now. Ultimately, he and his team have just done a better job than everyone else. They deserve a lot of credit for that."

It's not particularly exciting, and that's why Hamilton believes it's necessary to address this in the future. "As a sport, we need to look at how we can improve to have more exciting races in the future. If the field is closer together and we have battles between Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin, that would be great," says Hamilton.

Hamilton doesn't long for return to own dominant phase

As mentioned, Hamilton hopes for fiercer battles with the competition. The Brit doesn't like to see one team towering above the rest, and he states that he himself doesn't long for the period when he won race after race. "I grew up with thrilling battles in karting. I don't dream of ever having another dominant period and winning multiple championships in a row. At least I hope to be able to join the fight," he concludes.