LEWIS HAMILTON taunted his rivals by saying they “moan too much”.
The F1 world champion took a swipe at the likes of Jenson Button and his own Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who have blasted the new track in Baku.
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Lewis Hamilton slammed his F1 rivals for “moaning too much” ahead of Baku GPCredit: Getty Images
Ex-champ Button feels safety has “gone backwards”.
Rosberg said the cramped pit lane could result in a “massive accident”.
But Hamilton, 31, who topped both practice sessions yesterday despite not having even walked the track, said drivers need to have “balls” to race on the circuit.
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Nico Rosberg looked relaxed about incurring Lewis Hamilton’s wrathCredit: AP:Associated Press
He said: “I’m well happy. One thing for sure, these drivers, they moan so much — so much about so many things.I guarantee you.
“It is bumpy down the main straight and you cannot really see turn one that well when the car’s vibrating, so it’s really hard.
“But that’s a part of racing.
“These guys want it to be smooth, like smoother than ever and have no vibrations and no bumps and they want to take all the character and life out of these tracks.
“I’m glad that it has bumps but there are going to be some people that say those things, and I’ll just sit there and smile.
“Configuration-wise this is not massively challenging but you really need your balls with you.
“You really need your confidence and to have your bits together.”
Hamilton conquered Azerbaijan’s new course at the first attempt.
The defending champ drove just EIGHT practice laps in his Mercedes team’s simulator to learn the quickest way around the track.
He is on the crest of a wave after wins in Monaco and Montreal.
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Lewis Hamilton is in top form after back-to-back wins this seasonCredit: Getty Images
And he said: “On the simulator it was very easy, but the simulator is not very good, it’s a very bad computer game basically, so it doesn’t say much.
“It took me five or six laps to learn it and I already did the best time and I couldn’t beat it after that.
“I like the idea of going out and not knowing, seeing it for the first time. I was excited about that.”
