Bottas disagrees with Hamilton over F1 rule change to hold back Red Bull

Valtteri Bottas doesn’t agree with ex-F1 teammate Lewis Hamilton that the FIA should make a key rule change to stop dominant teams like Red Bull starting work on their 2024 cars early.
(L to R): Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Alfa Romeo F1 Team and Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 on the drivers' parade.
(L to R): Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Alfa Romeo F1 Team and Lewis Hamilton (GBR…

Last month, Hamilton suggested the FIA should introduce a date when teams can start development work on next year’s car.

Hamilton voiced his concerns about Red Bull’s advantage in F1, and the fact they can develop next year’s car while not worrying about this year's car amid their strong position.

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Unsurprisingly, runaway championship leader Max Verstappen countered Hamilton’s suggestion with a blunt response: “Life is unfair as well…”.

Bottas, who was part of Mercedes from 2017 to 2021, believes the FIA shouldn’t do any more to deliberately hamper a dominant team F1 given that the constructors’ champions already have a limit on aerodynamic testing relative to their rivals as part of the sliding scale.

“I think they deserve it,” Bottas said in an interview with Planet F1. “They’ve done a great job with the car. They seem to have a really strong team overall.

“I don’t see a point of trying to limit someone’s performance. I think already, with the regulations nowadays, if you win the Constructors Championship’, you are already then penalised in terms of wind tunnel time.

Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) AlphaTauri AT04 leads Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Alfa Romeo F1 Team C43 and Max Verstappen (NLD) Red Bull
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN) AlphaTauri AT04 leads Valtteri Bottas (FIN) Alfa Romeo…

“So I think, in the longer term, that will stabilise things. It’s the nature of the sport.

“There are always periods when somebody’s dominating, and so on, so I wouldn’t change anything – it’s the name of the game. The people who build the best car deserve it.”

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