Can Lewis Hamilton equal Michael Schumacher in stature and records?

[MenInG]

http://www.sport24.co.za/Motorsport/hamilton-has-no-desire-to-chase-schumachers-record-20170924

Cape Town - Lewis Hamilton has said that chasing down Michael Schumacher's record of seven World Championship titles is not something he "desires" to do.

The three-time World Champion is 28 points clear of Sebastian Vettel in his pursuit of a fourth title.

Although the Briton feels he has "five or six years" left in Formula 1, he has not got Schumacher's total on his mind at all.

"Honestly, I'm working just step by step. It's hard enough to get these championships won one at a time; it's hard enough just to get this fourth one," Hamilton said.

"Currently, it's quite clear for me. Who knows if we're going to get anywhere near Michael? Seven championships - I personally don't have a desire to chase that."

Hamilton also stated, though, that he is loving Formula 1 "more than ever" and is enjoying the challenge this season.

"I'm loving driving more than ever. I feel like I'm driving better than ever. I feel the most whole as a driver that I've ever been, which is a great feeling," he added.

"I'm enjoying the challenge - the fact we have a balanced car alongside a Ferrari and sometimes a Red Bull, so it's great to be able to be challenged by another team and really have to play on your qualities and work on your weaknesses.

"At the end of every season, you always have a think about your future. I set a good five-year plan, but it gets altered every year as you add another year onto it."

 

[finalfantasy7]

Probably beats in in winning races and pole positions - but I don't think he will beat his 7 championships, I got feeling Hamilton will get 6- same with vettel

 

[Diffusion]

He's already a better driver than Schumacher ever was. Hamilton & Alonso are in a class of their own

 

[finalfantasy7]

He's already a better driver than Schumacher ever was. Hamilton & Alonso are in a class of their own

expand - it barely rains in F1 these times - Schumacher was the king of the rain.

remember other drivers who are contenders for the greatest driver in F1 - senna, fangio.

Gurantee diffusion you havent even heard of the driver Juan Manuel Fangio

 

[last_knight]

In cricketing equivalents, Senna was probably Don Bradman and Schumacher was Sachin Tendulkar.

Can say that Hamilton is Virat Kohli.

 

[jusarrived]

He's already a better driver than Schumacher ever was. Hamilton & Alonso are in a class of their own

No way , the only one who came close to Schumi was Alonso in terms of pure driving skills .

 

[Slog]

what are measures of comparing drivers from different eras

im sure lap times and the like wont be a good comparison

 

[finalfantasy7]

what are measures of comparing drivers from different eras

im sure lap times and the like wont be a good comparison

You cannot compare any era in sports - when people do it shows how stupid they are

 

[MenInG]

Michael Schumacher is "conscious", claims a nurse at the Paris hospital where the stricken F1 legend has been taken for stem cell treatment.

Schumacher, 50, was admitted to the Georges Pompidou Hospital for inflammation-reducing treatment. He suffered major head injuries in a skiing accident nearly six years ago.

Le Parisien reported that the hospital "has turned into a bunker" after Schumacher's arrival, with the driver's health a closely-guarded secret ever since his fateful fall in the French Alps.

The paper anonymously quoted a nurse, who said: "Yes, he is in my service. And I can assure you that he is conscious."

Schumacher is reportedly in the care of Professor Philippe Menasche, a cardiac surgeon who is the director of the director of the Brain and Spinal Cord Institute at the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital.

Professor Menasche is in charge of a group of about 10 people responsible for Schumacher's care and security.

The F1 icon reportedly arrived at the Georges Pompidou Hospital in a blue and yellow ambulance registered in Geneva, surrounded by security guards, with his face and body completely covered by a blue cloth.

Schumacher has reportedly made secret trips to Paris on multiple occasions to received treatment, being admitted under a false name. It is believed that he is paralysed and unable to speak.

Jean Todt, Schumacher's former boss at Ferrari, visited his close friend after his latest arrival in Paris.

Todt recently said in a radio interview that he had watched an F1 race with Schumacher at his home in Geneva.

"I'm always careful with such statements, but it's true. I saw the race together with Michael Schumacher at his home in Switzerland," Todt said.

"Michael is in the best hands and is well looked after in his house. He does not give up and keeps fighting."

https://wwos.nine.com.au/motorsport...is-nurse/8914c2d2-40a1-4944-9fc5-f225e7f93582

 

[Major]

Could someone explain to me how this sport work.

What wins you a race? The driver or the cars engine amd design?

Why is it that many drivers havent be able to reach the top like that force india driver they had in the start

 

[MenInG]

Could someone explain to me how this sport work.

What wins you a race? The driver or the cars engine amd design?

Why is it that many drivers havent be able to reach the top like that force india driver they had in the start

Points are awarded to drivers and teams exclusively on where they finish in a race. The winner receives 25 points, the second-place finisher 18 points, with 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 and 1 points for positions 3 through 10.[27] If a race has to be abandoned before 75% of the planned distance has been completed all points are halved. In a dead heat, prizes and points are added together and shared equally for all those drivers who tie. The winner of the annual championship is the driver (or team, for the Constructors' Championship) with the most points. If the number of points is the same, priority is given to the driver with more wins. If that is the same it will be decided on the most second places and so on.[28]

Historically, the races were scored on the basis of a five-place tally: i.e. via an 8–6–4–3–2 scoring system, with the holder of the fastest race lap also receiving a bonus point. In 1961, the scoring was revised to give the winner nine points instead of eight, and the single point awarded for fastest lap was given for sixth place for the first time the previous year. In 1991, the points system was again revised to give the victor 10 points, with all other scorers recording the same 6–4–3–2–1 result. In 2003, the FIA further revised the scoring system to apportion points to the first eight classified finishers (a classified finisher must complete 90% of race distance) on a 10–8–6–5–4–3–2–1 basis.[29]

At certain periods in Formula One's history, the world champion has been determined by virtue of the "best 7 scores" in each "half" of the world championship, meaning that drivers have had to "discard" lower scores in either half of the season. This was done in order to equalise the footings of teams which may not have had the wherewithal to compete in all events. With the advent of the Concorde Agreements, this practice has been discontinued, though it did feature prominently in several world championships through the 1970s and 1980s.

The change in the awarding of world championship points has rendered the comparison of historical teams and drivers to current ones largely ineffective. For instance, Michael Schumacher is widely credited with being the most successful GP driver of all time. While his statistics are very impressive and easily outstrip those of his nearest competitor, it is worth noting that his points tally vs points available, and winning percentage of grands prix entered, do not significantly exceed those of Juan Manuel Fangio, whom he recently dethroned as winner of the most World Championships. As with most other sports, it is very difficult to compare stars of different eras owing to the changes in the sport and regulations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_One_racing

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Hope not, depends on 2021 regs.

 

[Xoib]

Could someone explain to me how this sport work.

What wins you a race? The driver or the cars engine amd design?

Why is it that many drivers havent be able to reach the top like that force india driver they had in the start

The car engine and design play the main role however the driver quality is also very important hence we see the top car brands end up hiring the most talented drivers.
Usually drivers start with a lower tier car and they have to show some driving talent with these lower tier cars some podium finishes along with consistent race finishes preferably in points position at least for couple of years and then they get hired by the big names

 

[imrankhannsu]

Previously, the faster the engine the more chances team had of winning as they also didnt have as many restrctions as they have now these days.

 

[MenInG]

Who would have thought anyone would have come close to Michael Schumacher's record of seven Formula 1 world championships?

Lewis Hamilton made it six at the United States Grand Prix, but a drill down into the statistics of his career reveals in some areas he has already surpassed the sport's true greats.

He's not quite surpassed Schumacher's titles and race wins total, but check out his win ratio and pole positions record - often the purest test of a driver's speed - and you'll see he is already a leading light in Formula 1.

How he compares to the best ever



Hamilton is now the second most successful driver of all time, one title behind all-time record holder Michael Schumacher who won seven.

A sixth win means Hamilton has overtaken Argentine legend Juan Manuel Fangio on the all-time leaderboard. Fangio won five titles in the 1950s.

This is a third consecutive title for Hamilton (2017, 2018, 2019). The record of consecutive F1 championships belongs to Michael Schumacher who swept all before him in securing five title wins on the bounce between 2000 and 2004.

It is also Hamilton's fifth title in six years. Hamilton's dominance was interrupted by Nico Rosberg - his Mercedes team-mate - pipping him to the championship by five points in 2016.

The only other driver currently racing who has won more than a single championship is Sebastian Vettel on four.

Hamilton has won 83 races. Only Michael Schumacher has won more, with 91. They are head and shoulders above the rest. Vettel is in third place with 53 wins, but the German won only one race this campaign.

Hamilton's 83 race wins have come at a better win rate than Schumacher's. In each of the last six campaigns, Hamilton has won on average 10 GPs. If he is to continue that trend next year, he will overtake Schumacher as the driver with the most race victories and will have done so in fewer races.

Hamilton has won one in every three races (33.5%) he has participated in his career (83 wins from 248 GPs started). Of all drivers who have taken part in at least 50 grands prix, only Juan Manuel Fangio (with almost one in two - 47%) and Jim Clark (35%) have a better win rate than Hamilton. However, Hamilton has been involved in at least three times as many races as both Clark and Fangio, sustaining his win rate over a much longer period of time. Hamilton has a marginally better win percentage than Schumacher, whose 91 victories came in 306 races (30% win percentage).

Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna both won one in four of the GPs they took part in. Frenchman Prost recorded 51 wins from 199 races, while Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna secured 41 wins from 161 grands prix before tragedy struck in Imola in 1994.

What about the other race-weekend stats?

Hamilton is way out in front in terms of pole positions - he has an all-time record of 87. Schumacher is in second place with 68.

Hamilton is in joint second place in terms of fastest laps, with 46 - the same number as Kimi Raikkonen. However, he has a long way to go if he is to catch Schumacher on 77.

Hamilton is just one behind Ayrton Senna in terms of races won leading from first to last lap - having done so 18 times.

Lewis Hamilton has completed a 'hat-trick' of securing pole position, winning the race and recording the fastest lap on 14 different occasions. Michael Schumacher is ahead with 22 hat-tricks.

Hamilton is in joint-second place in the list of drivers to have completed the most 'grand-slams'. The 2019 champion has achieved the rare feat of taking pole position, winning the race having led every single lap as well as claiming the fastest lap in five grands prix, the same number as Schumacher. British driver Jim Clark, who won two titles in the 1960s, has the most grand slams with eight.


https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50176043

 

[KingKhanWC]

Hamilton has little competition these days which is why he has taken the title with races to spare.

Ferrari have been shocking and until they improve Lewis Hamilton will carry on winning every year with Mercedes for the next decade if he wishes!

Nobody comes close to Senna, greatest driver of all time.

 

[Knight_Rider]

LH is arrogant and full of himself. I hope Verstappen teaches him a lesson next season.

 

[Itachi]

i miss the old F1. Current one looks like some electric car racing.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Race wins, yes.
Championships, hell no. This is Hamilton's last one.

 

[Robert]

Fangio is #1 ever, look at his win percentage, he was the Bradman of F1.

But Hamilton is remarkable and I hope he at least equals Schumacher. He has time yet.

 

[Mamoon]

Schumacher was like Tiger Woods and Jordan. He had become bigger than his sport.

Even if you were not interested in F1, golf or NBA, you knew who these guys were. They had huge impacts on their respective sports.

Hamilton doesn’t have that quality. He might break Schumacher’s records and he might even be technically a better driver according to F1 enthusiasts, but he is not going to have a greater stature than Schumacher.

The vast majority of the people who are not interested in F1 don’t even know him.

 

[shaz619]

Hamilton has little competition these days which is why he has taken the title with races to spare.

Ferrari have been shocking and until they improve Lewis Hamilton will carry on winning every year with Mercedes for the next decade if he wishes!

Nobody comes close to Senna, greatest driver of all time.

People forget F1 is a team sport and the challenges on an engineering level are insane especially when design rules keep changing each season etc and you need to meet those regulations to be able to compete and also put out a better car, it's so fast paced that some teams begin development for next season during the present one itself which they almost used as one big test rig. It is clear however that Mercedes are far ahead in this regard and they invest in grass roots like no other maybe apart from Red Bull, but I always saw them at my uni targetting graduates etc the competition Hamilton does have is his team mate and you got to appreciate his incredible skill for being ahead, as for the others it's not like they don't have cars which are not capable of winning either.

Senna and Michael also benefited from a great deal of notoriety in their countries given the stature of F1 in genenral, where they came from and the history of the teams they raced for. Lets be honest Hamiltion isn't popular for well known reasons, he is basically the Amir Khan of F1 racing (obvuiously more succesful in his area) but still, it's a great tragedy for this artist and modern legend

 

[sweep_shot]

Lewis Hamilton says his hunger for success is undimmed after securing his sixth Formula 1 drivers' title.

The 34-year-old has celebrated his Mercedes team's record-breaking sixth consecutive drivers' and constructors' championship double at their UK bases.

Hamilton said he was "living my dream" and that he "never in a million years thought I'd get to six".

"We must keep pushing because I know we have more to do - more championships to win, more races to win," he said.

"I grew up watching Formula 1 and I always wanted to do something like Ayrton [Senna]. If I could get to F1, that'd be great; if I could get three titles, that'd be incredible. And now we've doubled that - it's truly unbelievable."

Hamilton has two more races to go before the end of the season and he said after clinching the title at the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on Sunday that he was determined to do as well as possible in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, with a particular focus on qualifying, which he has said is the one area he is less than satisfied with this year.

"In my mind, I'm just too competitive," he said in Austin. "So I'm thinking: 'OK, we've got two more races to go, how am I going to do a better job, how am I going to improve in qualifying? There's two more qualifyings to try and get pole, how am I going to see if I can potentially pull out a lap like I did in Singapore last year? How am I going to work it that I can be at the front of both of those?'

"I'm always just looking to improve and I really love being in this sport. I'm so grateful to this sport for giving me a life and giving my life purpose."

At the celebration event, held at the Mercedes engine base in Brixworth and then the F1 car headquarters in Brackley, both in Northamptonshire, Hamilton thanked the Mercedes team "for continuing to push every year".

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff, now the most successful F1 team principal in history in terms of winning consecutive championships, added: "I remember our first management off-site meeting in 2013 where we put our objectives on the wall - it was the first time we wrote down 'We want to fight for a championship'.

"But (then engineering director) Aldo Costa said that we should be more ambitious and make it plural - championships.

"My first thought was that that's too far-fetched. But we ended up putting it on the wall. And here we are, almost seven years later, having won six double championships. I still pinch myself sometimes because I can't quite believe it."

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50339631.

 

[sweep_shot]

Lewis Hamilton wants to continue in Formula 1 - but will take his time over finalising a new contract.

The British driver, who clinched his sixth world title at the US Grand Prix, is almost certain to stay at Mercedes.

"When you've been with a team for so long, we are kind of joined at the hip," the 34-year-old said. "All that detail can take its time.

"But you need to set some time aside to say 'where are we, what's the next goal, what else are we planning?'"

Hamilton's current Mercedes contract runs until the end of the 2020 season.

Speaking before this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix, he said one of the issues on which he is looking for an answer is the future of team boss Toto Wolff, who has been linked in some quarters with a potential move to running Formula 1.

"It's a difficult one because I know being stuck in one position for too long can not always be a positive so I always want people to spread their wings and do what is best for their careers. Only he knows what that is," Hamilton said.

"But as a business you need to have the right people in place and he has been the right person - it has been the perfect match.

"So I don't particularly want him to leave if I'm staying in the sport but ultimately that's going to be his choice.

"This team is not one person. It's a huge group of people. But it is important to me and I am waiting to see where his head is at. The sport could also be in a good place with someone like him running it but I don't know if that's more of a fun experience."

Hamilton said he was not especially looking forward to the negotiations because "it is just confrontation, isn't it?"

He added: "It's almost like I only just did this contract and I already have to start talking about the potential of the next one.

"It won't be really stressful but it's daunting when you think about it coming up, also because you are committing to a period of time and it's sometimes hard to think that far ahead but of course it's nice to be wanted and hopefully soon we'll get that sorted."

Wolff is not in Brazil for this weekend's race, missing a grand prix for the first time since he took over as Mercedes motorsport boss in 2013 as he stays in Europe attending to other issues.

Hamilton said: "I texted him and said 'you've built an incredible team here and we're going to do you proud'.

"Nothing really changes for us within the team. he will be missed on the pit wall and his input through the weekend will be missed but we are still here to do a job and our focus doesn't shift. He'll still be watching so you can still get in trouble from the headmaster."

Focus on Ferrari
Hamilton is determined to end the season on a high, saying he wants to win the final two grands prix in Brazil on Sunday and Abu Dhabi on 1 December.

Ferrari will be the centre of attention in some ways following their poor performance at the last race in Austin.

That followed a rules clarification from governing body the FIA, underlining ways in which interfering with the running of the engine's hybrid system would be illegal.

The ruling came in answer to an enquiry from Red Bull, who had asked about potential ways of interfering with the mandatory fuel-flow meter that could lead it to exceed the maximum permitted fuel flow.

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto said in Austin that the ruling had not affected them, but there has been another clarification before the race in Sao Paulo, this time emphasising that it would be illegal for teams to introduce lubricants into the engine which could have the side-effect of boosting power.

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel said the team "did not fully understand" why they were off the pace in the US, but added: "I am pretty confident we can be back to our normal form here."

Asked if that would silence the suspicion, Vettel said: "We have had Mercedes having the best engine for five years and if it is now for a couple of months we are ahead, hopefully it stays like that for another five years and I don't care what people think or say."

Red Bull's Max Verstappen said in Austin that he believed Ferrari's dip in form was directly related to the first clarification.

But Vettel said: "Everybody is free to say what they want. I don't think anybody in the team took it personal. It is not professional and not mature.

"We are not proud of how we performed in Austin on Sunday. After Saturday, no-one had the need to complain. Sunday, we struggled with more than one thing - conditions, tyres, set-up, which are things we need to work on. But live and let live. If that's what he thinks, that's what he thinks, but in the end we don't care so much."

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari's lead driver in the championship, has a 10-place grid penalty in Brazil as a result of fitting a new engine following a failure in practice in the US, which required him to use a previous-specification engine in the race.

He said: "I personally don't have any motivation to prove them wrong. We all know what we are doing. We know there is absolutely nothing wrong. And I feel confident things will come back to normal here.

"In Austin, there were a few things did not go our way - and the change of engine to the older spec on my side was not ideal and for the race we saw that and that is why we changed the engine to the newer spec. But no extra motivation to prove them wrong."

Source: https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/50426129.

 

[MenInG]

Michael Schumacher's family are planning legal action against a magazine which published an artificial intelligence-generated 'interview' with the former Formula 1 driver.

Schumacher, a seven-time F1 champion, suffered severe head injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013 and has not been seen in public since.

Die Aktuelle ran a picture of a smiling Schumacher, 54, on the front cover of its latest edition with a headline of "Michael Schumacher, the first interview".

A strapline underneath reads "it sounded deceptively real", and it emerges in the article that the supposed quotes had been produced by AI.

The family have confirmed to news agency Reuters that they are planning to pursue the matter legally.

Following his skiing accident, Schumacher was placed into an induced coma and was brought home in September 2014, with his medical condition since kept private by his family.

Schumacher's son Mick used to drive for Haas in F1 and is currently a reserve driver for Mercedes.

In a 2021 Netflix documentary, Schumacher's wife Corinna said: "We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he's comfortable, and to simply make him feel our family, our bond.

"We're trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives.

"'Private is private', as he always said. It's very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible. Michael always protected us, and now we are protecting Michael."

BBC

 

[MenInG]

The editor of a German magazine that published an artificial intelligence-generated 'interview' with Michael Schumacher has been sacked.

The magazine's publisher has apologised to the Formula 1 legend's family.

Schumacher, a seven-time world champion, suffered severe head injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013 and has not been seen in public since.

Die Aktuelle ran a front cover with a headline of "Michael Schumacher, the first interview".

A strapline underneath a smiling picture of Schumacher read "it sounded deceptively real", and it emerged in the article that the supposed quotes had been produced by AI.

The article was produced using an AI programme called charatcter.ai, which artificially generated Schumacher 'quotes' about his health and family.

"I can with the help of my team actually stand by myself and even slowly walk a few steps," read the Schumacher 'quotes'.

"My wife and my children were a blessing to me and without them I would not have managed it. Naturally they are also very sad, how it has all happened.

"They support me and are standing firmly at my side."

Schumacher's family said on Friday that they plan to take legal action against the magazine and over the weekend its publisher issued an apology.

"This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we - and our readers - expect," said Bianca Pohlmann, managing director of Funke media group.

"As a result of the publication of this article, immediate personnel consequences will be drawn.

"Die Aktuelle editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann, who has held journalistic responsibility for the paper since 2009, will be relieved of her duties as of today."

Following his skiing accident, Schumacher was placed into an induced coma and was brought home in September 2014, with his medical condition since kept private by his family.

Schumacher, 54, won two of his F1 world drivers' titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, while he claimed five in a row for Ferrari from 2000 to 2004.

His seven F1 titles is a record shared jointly with Lewis Hamilton, while Schumacher achieved 91 race wins over his career, a record Hamilton surpassed in 2020.

Bbc

 

[BouncerGuy]

"Final Report About Michael Schumacher's Health...": F1 Great's Lawyer Reveals New Details

It's been more than a decade since Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher suffered a life-threatening injury while skiing in the French ski resort of Meribel. Schumacher, a seven time former world champion, suffered severe brain injuries during the accident. The 54-year-old has been residing privately in Switzerland, and details about his health have been kept confidential. He has not made any public appearance since the accident and there remains speculations about his health. Former world champions Sebastian Vettel, who close to Schumacher and his family, recently revealed that the F1 legend "is not doing well".

Schumacher's lawyer, Felix Damm, however, has revealed that the former F1 driver's family has decided not to make his final health report public due to privacy concerns.

"It was always about protecting private things. We considered whether a final report about Michael's health could be the right way to do this,: Damm told German media outlet LTO, as quoted by SI.com.

Damm also stated that Schumacher's family would have come under pressure from the media to release timely health updates, had they released the final health report.

"But that wouldn't have been the end of it and there would have had to be constantly updated 'water level reports' and it would not have been up to the family when the media interest in the story stopped."

"They [the media] could pick up on such a report again and again and as 'and what does it look like now?' one, two, three months or years after the message," he added. "If we then wanted to take action against this reporting, we would have to deal with the argument of voluntary self-disclosure," he added.

According to report in German outlet BILD, Schumacher has been driven in a Mercedes AMG car to stimulate the brain with familiar sounds. This was done, according to the report, because the racing great spent over two decades in Formula One or in other classes.

The report adds that Michael Schumacher receives 24-hour care, with a private infirmary situated in his former office. 15 doctors and their assistants ensure his well-being.

Schumacher won seven F1 world titles, including five on a trot with Ferrari. He returned to the F1 racing in 2010 for three years with the Mercedes team. He was replaced by Lewis Hamilton in 2013. In 2021, Hamilton matched Schumacher's record of seven world titles.
​

SOURCE: NDTV

 

[LordJames]

From a pure racing perspective Senna is the greatest driver and when it rained he went up a gear and nobody could touch him.

Then I rate Schumacher because he is the most technical F1 driver with intimate knowledge which he could pass onto the Mechanics.

Then Hamilton because stats don't lie and he has numbers on his side.

Any disagreements?

 

[BouncerGuy]

Hamilton's father Anthony set to take on FIA role

Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

Venue: Imola Dates: 16-18 May Race start: 14:00 BST on Sunday

Lewis Hamilton's father Anthony is to take on an official role with motorsport's governing body the FIA on young driver development.

Hamilton, who was instrumental in the start of Lewis' career and was his manager until 2010, has been working with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem for 18 months on the organisation's young driver development programme.

A spokesperson said Anthony Hamilton had "provided invaluable insights into an area he is very familiar with".

His formal role, and the programme itself, is set to be announced at the FIA conference in Macau in June.

The move, first reported by the Times. comes as Ben Sulayem faces an election for the presidency in December after three tumultuous years in the role that have been marked by a series of controversies.

The latest of these was this week when it emerged Ben Sulayem is planning to change the FIA statutes for the second time in six months in ways that appear to further extend his control.

And Anthony Hamilton's decision to work with the FIA comes despite his son's obvious frustrations with Ben Sulayem's leadership.

Hamilton has made a series of remarks over recent times that have made his feelings clear, including on Thursday in the context of the FIA's U-turn on punishments for drivers swearing.

Lewis Hamilton said: "It seems a bit of a mess there at the moment. There's lots of changes that are needed, for sure. But it doesn't really impact me at all."

BBC