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(Reuters) – Lewis Hamilton acknowledges that had he been a Formula One fan watching the same man pull off one dominant victory after another, it might even have put him to sleep.
“Having been a fan growing up, having lived through different eras, seeing the Schumacher era, of course I know what it’s like,” said the Brit, sympathizing with the fans after his fifth win in seven races at the Belgian Grand Prix of the Sunday.
With another procession from pole to flag in his Mercedes, even Hamilton remembered the days between 2000 and 2004 when he watched Michael Schumacher dominate with Ferrari.
“I was a teenage boy. I would have woken up, ate my sarnie bacon and probably saw the beginning and gone to sleep and then woke up to see the end,” he recalled.
“If I was watching today, I’d probably do the same and see the highlights, because it’s so much shorter,” added Hamilton, who is now vegan, laughing.
The 35-year-old has won five of the last six world championships and with a 47-point lead over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, he is on track to match Schumacher’s record of seven titles this year.
He’s also on track to beat the 91-year-old great German’s unprecedented run before the season ends.
He has enjoyed 68 victories with Mercedes, which has started every race this season from pole and failed to win just once all year.
Its dominance is expected to continue until at least 2022, when the wholesale rules are changed which will see the introduction of newer and more competitive cars.
A budget cap, which limits the amount of money teams can spend to make their cars faster, to be set next year and adjusted in 2022 should also level the playing field.
“Ultimately, what the fans and the people need to understand is that this is not our fault,” Hamilton said.
“Ultimately, the decision makers who design the cars, who set the rules, are the ones who can be pressured to ultimately do a better job going forward, if that’s possible.”
(Reporting by Abhishek Takle; Editing by Ian Chadband)
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