Formula 1 must promote the current generation of cars better than it currently does, according to Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff.
Lewis Hamilton broke the all-time lap record around Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit during qualifying for the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix, pipping Mark Webber’s original 2005 record by just 0.034s.
Wolff reckons such a feat should be celebrated more than it has, considering Hamilton managed his lap in a hybrid-powered V6 car, compared to Webber’s V10-powered Williams-BMW which weighed 100kg less than the current cars.
"We've done that [lap record] with a much heavier car, a standard tyre, not like in the old days where there was a tyre war between Bridgestone and Michelin," said Wolff.
"It's a major achievement and it's something which we should discuss more in public rather than talking the sport down and the inefficiencies.
"We should say 'this is a hybrid engine, maybe the most powerful ever in a Formula 1 car and we've broken lap records from an era with huge 10 cylinder engines'. Those cars are bloody fast, the fastest cars on the planet.”
His comments come just as the sport is set to agree new rules to make the cars even quicker from 2017, with the introduction of wider wings and tyres.
