Formula 1 now 'much more fun' - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says the new Formula 1 this year is "much more fun" than any other time in his career. The Ferrari driver said his multi-lap battle with team-mate Charles Leclerc at the previous race in China was "the best battle I've had" since his famous duel with former Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in Bahrain in 2014. The seven-time champion said: "That's how racing should be.

It should be back and forth, back and forth. It shouldn't be, like, one move is done and then that's it. " Hamilton's comments come as F1 is locked in a debate about the impact of the new car and engine regulations that were introduced this season.

The new engines have a 50-50 split between internal combustion and electrical power and are energy starved as a fundamental basis of the rules. That means teams and drivers are constantly managing energy levels through a lap. It has led in the first two grands prix of the year to what has become known as "yo-yo racing", where two or more cars are locked together for several laps as they pass and re-pass because of different energy levels at different parts of the lap.

But it has also created a change to driving in qualifying, where the need to recover electrical energy means the cars are under-powered for parts of the lap and the driving challenge has therefore been reduced. Hamilton added that he, too, saw the paradox inherent in the new rules. On racing, he said: "If you go back to karting, it's the same thing.