Lewis Hamilton suggested Formula 1 fans would see "a better reflection of each driver" if all 20 cars had the same performance, amid total dominance of this season's championship by Max Verstappen.
Hamilton is no stranger to a runaway title race, having pulled off a few of them himself. Between 2014 and 2020, only team-mate Nico Rosberg was able to stop him from winning the title on one occasion, and no other team was able to touch Mercedes.
Now, Red Bull are the ones threatening to do something similar, with Verstappen on course to comfortably secure back-to-back championships. Hamilton, on the other hand, may finish the season without a race win for the first time in his F1 career.
Mercedes have had no reliability issues, but have struggled to match the performance of their Red Bull and Ferrari rivals. Hamilton feels he could give Verstappen a run for his money again this year, if he had the same machinery as the Dutchman.
"I mean the car does limit us," he told reporters at Zandvoort. "I think for anyone that's further back in the order they are limited by the machinery they have. If we all had the same car, no matter which one it was, you would see a better reflection of each driver, but that's obviously not the case.
"Every time we get in the car we arrive optimistic, sometimes too optimistic and we have to lower that optimism but try and keep it throughout the weekend. But it becomes very clear straightaway where we stand and that we still often have the limitations that we do.
"And every time you get in the car there's just more and more information that I'm able to pass on to the team to try and get us on the right track for next year.
"That's really where I'm applying a lot of my time, is just communication with all the heads of different departments really to make sure that we don't leave any stone unturned.
"It could be brakes, could be gear ratios, could be suspension, ride, aero characteristics when you hit the brakes to when you turn to when you get back on power – all these sorts of things – to help guide them in terms of where they design the car for next year."
