LEWIS HAMILTON says he would love Formula One bosses to press ahead with plans for a Miami GP – and has begged them to allow him to design the track.
The four-time world champion has made no secret of his love of the United States and owns a home in Colorado.
He spends the majority of his time in the US and jetted in for this weekend’s Spanish GP from the exclusive MET Gala in New York.
A proposal for the street race is expected to be rubber-stamped by Miami officials in preparation for a race next season – and Hamilton wants to be involved.
He said: “Miami is a super-cool place and then I saw the layout and it was like nah, but it could be fun.
“I don’t really get it, for example in golf, you get all the great golfers designing golf courses.
“We’ve not got any of the top racing drivers in history. They’ve never designed a race track or given their input.
“On the initial design, you’ve got two of the longest straights but maybe when we drive it it could be fun.
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“But I dread the thought of a street circuit like we had with Valencia, that wasn’t a great street circuit. It can be a hit or miss.
“I don’t want to get an assumption before we’ve even driven it but I’m sure as drivers we can give an insight into it, and I know Miami quite well. There are few better locations to put the track.”
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After his surprise win in Azerbaijan where he was promoted to first place following Valtteri Bottas‘ puncture two-laps from the end, Hamilton now tops the drivers’ championship.
But he does not take any comfort in topping the tables for his Mercedes car has been outclassed by the Ferrari this season.
However, the 33-year-old is hoping that changes this weekend in Barcelona as the season switches back to Europe.
He added: “A lot of work has been going on but I think knowledge wise we are in a better position than we were in the last four races.
“I’d like to think we’ll be in a better place this weekend. We’ve had all the testing here so hopefully some parts of that will make us better this weekend.
“I’m pushing with this great team to turn this car into the best car. We’re talking mini percentages.”
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo says he gave a grovelling apology to the team’s staff after he and Max Verstappen crashed into each other in Azerbaijan.
And he says the team WILL be forced to employ team tactics if they clash again in the future.
He said: “The team normally do a debrief after every race, and they postponed it so both Max and me were in England. We sent our apologies and told them that it won’t happen again.
“I told the team, I said I want to race, but if we find ourselves battling too hard or losing time to the others, especially if there is maybe a faster car coming through, then I think the team would step in if we started banging wheels again.”
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