Lewis Hamilton praises ‘open communication’ between F1 drivers and FIA president

Hamilton has a good relationship with Mohammed bin Sulayem

(PA)

Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton has praised the “open communication” between drivers and new FIA president Mohammed bin Sulayem.

The president took over the role in December and was charged with repairing relationships after the controversial end to the 2021 season.

Hamilton was denied the championship after Max Verstappen was able to overtake his rival on the final laps of the final grand prix of the campaign following the questionable removal of a safety car.

“It’s not an easy role for anyone, I think it takes time to get into a role and build all the relationships and also to implement change,” Hamilton said.

“But I think the most important thing for right now is the drivers. We are trying to build that connection with the drivers, all of us, the GPDA (Drivers’ Association), we are all united and we want to help make the racing better.

“We want to help the FIA, and Mohammed has been really open with that. So we are just going to continue to work on that communication. I’m in touch with him quite a lot. We actually speak quite a bit. And he’s very, very driven…he’s competitive.

“He used to race himself, so he has a competitor sort of mindset. And he’s also very keen on diversity and really pushing for future change.

“So he wants to collaborate with us all on that. So I’m quite happy with it.”

Hamilton is sixth in the Drivers’ Championship, with teammate George Russell in fourth, but Russell has given a positive update for Mercedes fans for next season.

“I think we understand exactly why at circuits like Zandvoort and Budapest why we were competitive, and we understand why at circuits like Monza and Spa we were uncompetitive,” Russell told the F1 website

“That doesn’t mean that we can solve the issues overnight. But we’ve got to keep on developing this car and next year will sort of be an evolution of this and I think now we do have a totally clear direction of how to develop the car.”