Lewis Hamilton says F1 faces 'pivotal moment' as it battles controversies

Lewis Hamilton remarked that Formula One is encountering a critical juncture amidst grappling with a string of off-track controversies at the onset of the new season.

Leading up to the Bahrain Grand Prix, the focus was shifted towards the aftermath of Red Bull's inquiry into purported misconduct by team principal Christian Horner.

Recently, the FIA, the regulatory body for motorsport, disclosed that its compliance unit is currently "evaluating" allegations that its president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, instructed officials against certifying the circuit utilized in the previous year's Las Vegas Grand Prix.

"It doesn't look good from the outside and it doesn't look good from within," Hamilton, a seven-time world champion, told reporters ahead of this week's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

"I think it's a really important time for the sport to show and to stick to their values, holding ourselves accountable for our actions.

"It's a pivotal moment in terms of what we project to the world and how it's handled — and it's not been handled very well to this point.

"Transparency is really key. I am hoping to see some progress moving forward, but I hope it is not a year that continues to go on like this, but it does highlight some of the issues we have within the sport."

Earlier this week, according to a BBC report, a whistleblower alleged that Ben Sulayem intervened during last year's Saudi race.

This intervention occurred when George Russell was momentarily elevated to third place following Fernando Alonso's penalty due to his team's contact with his car during a pit stop.

Subsequently, the penalty was revoked in a review process purportedly influenced by Ben Sulayem, leading to Alonso being reinstated in third position.

"We want to see all of the facts and just have total transparency really," Russell said.

"We're all racing here. We all want a fair and level playing field for us to showcase what we can do."

Alonso implied that the re-emergence of the story was due to the diminished excitement of Red Bull's on-track dominance, with attention shifting to the off-track drama, including potential internal issues within Red Bull.

Jos Verstappen, father of reigning world champion Max Verstappen, remarked last weekend that Red Bull could face turmoil if Horner continues to lead the team.

"There is too much talk off the track because on the track is not very exciting," said Alonso.

"There is one car winning for the last 72 Grand Prix, more or less dominating for three years."

Mercedes solve mystery of Hamilton's broken seat

Andrew Shovlin, the trackside engineering director for Mercedes, disclosed that Lewis Hamilton's seat remained intact during the Bahrain Grand Prix, despite initial complaints voiced over the team radio.

Although the seven-time champion appeared to struggle with what seemed to be a seat problem alongside overheating issues in his new W15 at the Bahrain International Circuit, his communication with race engineer Peter Bonnington suggested that the seat had malfunctioned.

However, upon closer examination, it was found that there was no actual problem with the seat, as clarified by Shovlin prior to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

"We obviously got the car back, checked the seat straight away, and the seat was fine," said Shovlin.

"Now, the seats are obviously designed to be able to be lifted out because in the event of an accident, the driver comes out in his seat and ultimately, the thing that holds the seat in the car is the driver who's strapped into his seat belts.

"The only thing we can think is that if Lewis was ever so slightly loose, he moved a bit and maybe the seat came up, had a little bit of motion and dropped down again, because looking at it afterwards, there's no evidence that anything's broken, that it was in the wrong position.

"But fundamentally that whilst it might be a bit uncomfortable for the driver if they're not really rigidly located in the car, fundamentally a failure of the seat doesn't mean that the driver can come loose out.

"So they're always safe. But as I said, it looks like this was something very subtle that maybe there was a bit of motion, and then it settled down and was fine for the rest of the race."