SILVERSTONE, U.K. — Lewis Hamilton still rates Silverstone as the greatest circuit in the world, but he has criticised the people responsible for making it the bumpiest track he’s experienced in Formula One.
Like many other world class racing circuits, Silverstone’s tarmac has been re-laid ahead of this year’s race. Onboard shots during practice showed how bumpy the new circuit has become.
When asked how his day was, Hamilton replied: “Do you want the good or the bad? The good is that the weather is fantastic and the crowd was amazing today. It has a fantastic atmosphere and great fun to drive on this track because it’s so fast, the fastest it has ever been.
“We’re flat out through Copse, through Turn 1, through Turn 2 with the DRS and its insane how fast it is. It is the best track in the world — the faster it gets, the better it gets. It’s got to be the best track in the world, it’s really ridiculous – it’s flying a fighter jet around the track.”
However, he then turned his attention to the direct consequence of the recent resurfacing.
“The bad is that, one, I always think countries seem to waste money when they resurface the tracks. They wasted money which they could have gone to better use. And, two, the people they hired did the worst job ever.
“I mean, it’s the bumpiest track I’ve ever experienced, it’s bumpier than the Nordschleiffe, which is 100 years old. It’s rattling your freakin’ eyeballs from your brain — you can’t see where you’re going.”
“In the straights and some of the corners but it’s so insane how bumpy it is. It’s so quick its like duh-duh-duh-duh. I said to the team “I’m not going to talk on the radio because people I’m taking something or just take the mic, you know?. Apart from that it’s fantastic but jeez, they need to hire someone better, because I don’t know how you could make such a bad job in layering the track.
Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas said the new surface is “so bumpy that you actually get a bit of a headache” and said it is now the bumpiest race venue in F1.