To say the seven-time world champion had a tough weekend in Qatar would be an understatement. He, Leclerc and Ferrari suffered tremendously at Doha. In the end, the Italian team would leave the Middle Eastern nation with naught but 4 points to their name after the last sprint weekend of the season.

Ferrari’s woes aside, though, Hamilton heavily criticised the governing body’s approach to the Qatar Grand Prix, suggesting a lack of meticulousness from the FIA.

“I had a good first lap, and after that it was pretty dull,” Hamilton told GPblog summarising the 57-lap race at the Lusail International Circuit.

“I think it was probably the same for everyone,” he said regarding the tough nature of the race. “I think, being critical, when I was in the drivers' briefing, for example, I asked them [the FIA] the question, like, ‘have you seen last year there was no overtaking? Why have you not, for example, increased the DRS zone?’ And they're like, ‘oh, hmm, I haven't thought of that.’ I'm like, ‘what are you doing?," added the world champion, laughing.

“Then the pit lane is 26 seconds. If you go to the end of the pit lane, there's a long space that's just unnecessary to be [a part of] the pit lane, so you can pull that earlier,” he continued. “The start’s super early, so you could squeeze it down to be shorter.

“And so, beautiful place and really well hosted,” Hamilton added vindicating the efforts by the organisers of the Grand Prix, whilst at the same time urging the governing body to come up with new ideas that can improve the race for the future editions.

“So they've got to come up with some other solution. Hopefully you write how bad that race was probably to watch. I imagine it was pretty bad to watch,” Hamilton concluded.

Hamilton finished the Qatar Grand Prix in 12th after starting 17th. During his post-race reaction he said he had a good first lap but was unlucky under the safety car.

Calling it one of his most challenging years, the seven-time world champion noted Ferrari’s struggles, with Charles Leclerc also lacking pace, revealing he had extensive notes on areas where the Scuderia must improve and urged the team to act. Read the full story here.

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