Formula 1’s "draconian restrictions on team radio" have been branded a "joke" by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton’s biggest rivals after the world champion "claimed the clampdown had made the racing more dangerous," according to Daniel Johnson of the London TELEGRAPH. The sport now faces calls from Mercedes, as well as "highly-respected champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, to lift the ban which was introduced at the start of this season." Hamilton said after the inaugural race in Baku that the restrictions "put the drivers’ safety at risk because they were constantly staring at the steering wheel." He spent much of Sunday’s European Grand Prix "trying to change his Mercedes’ engine mode after a team error." The engineers "knew precisely the problem -- and how to fix it -- but were not allowed to tell Hamilton due to regulations introduced by the FIA." Mercedes Motorsport Dir Toto Wolff said on Monday night, "I think we need to look at the rules." Hamilton and Wolff "were immediately backed up by Vettel and Alonso." Vettel said, "If you want my honest opinion the ban is a joke, because it doesn't really change much" (TELEGRAPH, 6/20). MOTORSPORT's Jonathan Noble reported Hamilton felt that the radio restrictions "ultimately robbed F1 of a better spectacle," because they meant he was "unable to deliver a fightback." He said, "The radio ban, as far as I am aware, was supposed to stop driver aids. But it wasn't a driver aid, it was a technical issue." Wolff thinks that F1 execs should "reconsider the scope of the radio clampdown so that it is not robbing the sport of elements that actually make it better." He said, "I think we want to see drivers racing each other and today’s cars are very complicated because they are so very sophisticated technology-wise" (MOTORSPORT, 6/20).
