Hamilton wants F1 to scrap 'no fun' rules

[John S]

When you are right Lewis you are right!         Bring it on!

 F1's authorities should dump the rule prohibiting post-race donuts, burnouts and flag-waving, according to reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Three weeks ago at Silverstone, the stewards turned a blind eye to the Briton's series of donuts, probably because he had finished well out of the points.

That kind of celebration, however, is strictly forbidden in Formula One, but Hamilton believes it is flamboyance of that nature that inspires so many to follow the sport's two-wheeled equivalent MotoGP.

"They give even more back to the fans with what they do after a race," the McLaren driver is quoted as saying by the Mirror from the Nurburgring.

The rules arrived in F1 amid the push for greater safety some years ago, but Hamilton denies they are defensible on those grounds. 
 
"It wasn't unsafe for anyone," he said of his Silverstone display, "so why shouldn't we be allowed to do it? If you want to want to celebrate a win you should be able to."

Hamilton said he was impressed by "the number of people who came up to me afterwards and said, 'That was incredible'.

"When Nigel Mansell picked up Ayrton Senna on the side of his Williams (in 1991) that was fantastic. It makes it fun and exciting," the Briton continued. "I'd love to do the flag-waving too. Whether they would allow me is a different matter, safety has taken over a lot of things.”

© CAPSIS International

[Scott]

Problem is, typically the guy doing the donuts is the guy who just won or got pole...coming in 15th doesn't exactly make me want to do donuts.

[johnbull]

Problem is, typically the guy doing the donuts is the guy who just won or got pole...coming in 15th doesn't exactly make me want to do donuts.

But you can understand his logic on this one. Getting penalised a couple of places from 15th doesn't mean a thing. Getting penalised a couple of places after a win is another matter.

I agree entirely that drivers should be free to put on a bit of a show for the crowd after a win, but that doesn't fit in with Max's boring profile at all, so everybody has to suffer.

Perhaps that's why we all can't wait to see the back of him.

[david1275]

It was always in my mind that they were not allowed to smoke the tubes so the tyre manufactures could gather valuable information from the used tyres to help with development. Thinking about it, surely they get enough info from all the other tyres used over the weekend. It would be nice to see some exuberant celebrations at the end of the GP's, bring on the burn outs!!

[Alianora La Canta]

The ban is due to a combination of needless fears about cars becoming illegal during such procedures and TV schedule prioritisation. Neither is a good reason for the ban to stay in place. If a driver wants to do donuts or wave flags after the race, that's absolutely fine - whether they've won, want to thank the crowd or simply want to do something a little different!

[lkjohnson1950]

If Hamilton keeps up this sort of thing I may eventually grow to like him. Martin Whitmarsh took him to task for putting extra wear on the precious engine-tranny combo that he may have to use again. Rediculous.

Lonny