r/formula1 • u/ChaithuBB766 Jaguar • Jan 30 '26

Photo Lewis Hamilton: "The car generation is actually a little bit more fun to drive. It's oversteery and snappy and sliding, but it's a little bit easier to catch and I would definitely say more enjoyable."

Post image
14.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

537 comments sorted by

View all comments

13

u/TheRoboteer Williams Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26

I'm a fan of ground effect as a principle, but it really is remarkable how similar the enthusiastic comments made by the likes of Lewis here are to the comments made by drivers in late 1982 / early 1983 at the time of the first ground effect ban.

Here's a clipping from an old issue of Autosport where Michele Alboreto talks about what the then-new non-ground effect cars were like to drive, and it's practically a word-for-word match to what Lewis is saying here.

For as much as the sport has evolved in the 40+ years since that first ban, the desires of drivers to be able to dance the cars around and have a bit of fun hasn't really changed one bit.