The major problem that shows Hamilton's true worth to F1

Formula 1 is not dying, but it looks rather sickly at the moment. In the last two races the most interesting moments have ended in penalties, and the two most successful drivers of this generation have taken turns to expose the championship's major flaws.

Sebastian Vettel landed a neat blow when he said F1's over-regulation has turned drivers into lawyers. Lewis Hamilton went even further, shining the spotlight on a cycle of "bad decisions" and criticising the rulemakers' current ideas for 2021.

Hamilton is well-placed to comment after winning five world championships, driving in F1 for more than a decade across five significantly different rules packages, and attending the summit meeting over the major regulation change less than two weeks ago. His damning verdict on the changes that are meant to save F1? "They are nowhere near where it needs to be. They've got to make serious changes to the decisions they've already made."

F1 has got a lot of convincing to do over 2021, as fears slowly increase that a watered-down concept will have a compromised impact, and a major opportunity will be missed. That is a seriously concerning prospect and is why Hamilton's comments after Sunday's dull French Grand Prix were more alarming than the lack of entertainment on show earlier in the afternoon. We know that F1 is flawed. But it's meant to be being fixed.

Hamilton has become increasingly confident about weighing in on F1's dominant talking points, and the significance and strength of his comments should not be underestimated. A few years ago, once Hamilton had become more settled at Mercedes, achieved his second and third world titles, and seemingly got more comfortable in his own skin after feeling shackled at McLaren, we witnessed him evolve into a very measured senior F1 figure. Now, with five world titles to his name and at the age of 34, Hamilton is becoming increasingly more statesmanly. That was clearly on display as he addressed a major problem for F1.

Hamilton pointed out that he cares enough about the future to have been part of that crucial Paris meeting that delayed F1's 2021 rules. That completes something of a shift within Hamilton over the past two years, from a passive member of the driver community - "I've always been quiet really, because there are a lot of outspoken people in the drivers' briefing and the GPDA and I didn't always agree necessarily with some of the things that have been said" - to someone who is now always willing to discuss matters beyond the session that has just finished or the race weekend that's approaching.

He says he has realised the "position of responsibility" he has as a five-time world champion with so much experience. More importantly, he is not blinded by his personal enjoyment of the current generation of F1.

"I see the mess that we're in and I see it every year, constantly," says Hamilton. "I empathise with the fans watching, I empathise with you guys [in the media]."

Hamilton shared unfiltered thoughts on F1's governance, past and present in the post-race press conference and later on in his usual Sunday evening media session. He said that "for many, many years they've never wanted us in that room", although F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn seemed to counter that. Maybe Hamilton is slightly off the mark - it's impossible to say without being in the room where it happens ourselves - but it's fair to say that drivers, while capable of offering very valid input, will not necessarily push for things completely conducive to more entertaining races.

"I've been here a long time, and if I look at my legacy, I'd love to look back and say I was a part of helping that positive change for the fans that are watching F1 even beyond my time" Lewis Hamilton

Regardless, Hamilton isn't simply shooting from the hip. It would be very easy for him to turn up to race weekends, drive about, pocket the money from Mercedes and various sponsorship deals, then disappear into a world of fashion and music. It would certainly make his schedule less demanding. Yet, as much as some do not want to believe it, Hamilton is genuinely interested in the health of F1 and invoking change.

"The way it is set up, just from watching when I was there, is not good," he says of the Paris meeting. "It's really not good. They won't like me saying that.

"Ultimately the FIA, they're the governing body, they need to make all the decisions. The teams shouldn't be involved in that in my opinion, because the teams all want to do something for themselves. If you get a central group of people, intelligent, like the FIA for example, their sole job with Liberty is to make the sport great again. Whether that means hiring individuals or whatever. But they should have the power and just make the decisions."

It is easy to view this as just another person criticising the governance of F1. In terms of highlighting the problem of teams meddling with the rules, Hamilton is saying little new here. But he also points out that even if the FIA and F1 bosses were left to their own devices, free from the vested interests of the teams, "they don't always necessarily have the right answers".

"You sit there and they're talking about making the car heavier, and it baffles me," Hamilton says. "Why are you going to make the car heavier? The car is already 130kg heavier or whatever it is than when I first got to the sport.

"We've got the best brakes you can possibly have, they're as great as they can be, and they're overheating and they're fading, so the braking zones aren't great. If you put the car another 30kg heavier, it's just going to get worse for the brakes and the car, and you have to do more lift and coasting, you have to do more fuel saving, all these different things, it just has a knock-on effect.

"Now with the drivers in there, maybe they'll make a lot of noise."

F1 seems to have bought into that, since Brawn says there are three further meetings scheduled. Hamilton describes his experience in Paris as a "really constructive, really awesome" process that made the meeting "way, way longer". He is unsure if he can attend every time, but says the unification of the Grand Prix Drivers Association means it could be a rotating cast of drivers and the underlying points would be the same. And he remains open to further attendance, with a keen interest in how those initial talks evolve.

"But we need to be in the next meeting and part of the next chain of emails that's happening, so we can have [an input]," he says. "Even if it's the small things, like the tyres, or the weight thing for example, whatever it may be.

"I've been here a long, long time, and if I look at my legacies, I'd love to look back and say I was a part of helping that positive change for the fans that are watching F1 even beyond my time.

"That will be a cool thing to be a part of, not just a driver who won titles, someone who actually cared about the sport."

Hamilton using his authority as F1's champion and the most decorated driver of the current era to put pressure on the areas he believes must be improved is likely to remain underappreciated. That will be in keeping with Hamilton's value being misjudged in general.

He isn't perfect by any means. It's not ideal when he misses his Thursday media commitments, although this tends to be confined to extenuating circumstances (this year, for example, Niki Lauda's death and Paris Fashion Week/Karl Lagerfeld's memorial). Some grow weary of the constant motivational talk, but to each their own.

He is not immune to a small sulk, like every driver on the grid. Sometimes they just do not want to speak, and Hamilton can bat off questions and shoot back a curt response better than most. Those moments aren't great, but they often follow disappointing qualifying sessions or races (and sometimes, just plain bad questioning). A mardy Hamilton in a post-race press conference can often transform into an eloquent and open Hamilton an hour or so later at a written media session.

Beyond such frustrations, though, Hamilton is F1's greatest asset. He is an outlandishly good racing driver, one of the most successful in history, with a reach that extends well beyond grand prix racing. That should be encouraged, yet is often scoffed at. It seems to offend many that Hamilton is viewed at the same level as Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna. Yet it is churlish to deny that his name deserves to be uttered in the same breath as those greats, and a struggle to believe that, long after Hamilton retires, he will be more universally appreciated.

"In general in the United Kingdom, Lewis is not recognised how he should be recognised," reckons Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. "One day he's going to stop his career, with multiple records, and people will say, 'He was the greatest driver on the planet and we were witnesses of that journey, and wasn't he an interesting personality with all the things he did?'.

"But for whatever reason there is this idea of hitting out, which maybe it provides the better headline, maybe it sells more newspapers, or gives more clicks. I don't think it recognises the opportunity that we are part of, to see maybe the best driver that has ever existed on an exceptional journey."

Hamilton is no villain - he is a world-class driver and a fascinating person on what Wolff calls an "exceptional journey". It's regrettable some simply refuse to be part of it

Many people will only see fragments of drivers in F1. It is very easy to twist the narrative if you're anti-Hamilton. Those who spend a little more time with him - and we are talking minutes of the day, not under the pretence that Hamilton is a bosom chum - are fortunate enough to see more of the picture.

The argument that Hamilton is being flattered by his car because of the latest qualifying lap or race win is quickly dismissed when you hear how much effort has gone into understanding a particular area or transforming a weakness into a strength. The thought that Hamilton has been rude or dismissive because of the language he's used would not even be entertained if the way he pauses and considers his answer came across in black-and-white, or in a soundbite. The suggestion he believes he is bigger than his sport is at odds with his commitment to pressuring those in power for a better world championship and desire, once he has stopped racing, to get involved in various endeavours from educational projects to helping improve diversity in motorsport.

Hamilton has always been a divisive character and there will be many reasons for this. Some despise the dominance. Some see snapshots of his behaviour and make a rapid judgement that never changes. Others, as we have not been afraid to discuss before, will be motivated in a more malicious manner.

When Hamilton steps away from F1, Wolff will probably be proved right. As a racing driver, Hamilton is likely to grow to be remembered in an appropriate way. Perhaps he will never get the credit for the statesman he has become off-track, unless he makes the unlikely transition to motorsport or F1 governance in the future.

Hamilton will always have his critics. Like Schumacher or Senna before him, there are too many forces at play for a driver to become universally liked. Time and tragedy have deified those legends. It is frustrating that Hamilton's detractors do not see the sadness in airbrushing history later on, instead of living it in real-time.

Setting records on-track and championing change off it, Hamilton is no villain. He is simply a world-class driver and a fascinating person on what Wolff rightly calls an "exceptional journey". How regrettable that some simply refuse to be part of it.