Lewis Hamilton says he "feels for the fans" amid Max Verstappen's domination of the 2022 Formula 1 season and has stressed his hopes for changes to create a closer championship next year..
Verstappen heads to this weekend's Singapore GP, live on Sky Sports F1, with his first chance of wrapping up the defence of his drivers' title - and the earliest coronation in 20 years.
The Dutchman's domination, with 11 race wins out of 16 and a whopping 116-point buffer to closest challenger Charles Leclerc, is a far cry from last year when Verstappen against Hamilton came down to a hugely controversial last lap in the season's final race at Abu Dhabi.
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"Definitely, I feel for the fans," said Hamilton, who is only sixth in the championship, about this season's title race.
"For everyone and even for us last year going down to the wire, that was intense for everybody and so it's never great when the season finishes early."
Five of Hamilton's record-equalling seven championships have been settled before the final race of the season and the Englishman admitted those were also "not spectacular" for F1.
"When I've experienced having it finish early in places like Mexico - for you as the one individual, it's great, but for the actual sport it's not spectacular," Hamilton stated.
"So I'm really grateful to have had 2008 right down to the last 17 seconds, and obviously last year pretty much the same thing. So let's hope for the future it's a bit better."
Hamilton wants 'closer' 2023 | Max not thinking of title
Hamilton, who has never failed to win an F1 race in his 15 seasons to date, is still waiting for his first of 2022 in an underperforming Mercedes but insists he is still "really enjoying the challenge" of "cracking the code".
He is, however, hoping for changes next year after the sweeping overhaul of 2022 - which has led to closer racing and more overtaking opportunities - actually led to Red Bull and Verstappen dominating.
"It's not achieved what it was supposed to achieve, so we've failed in that," Hamilton told Sky Sports. "When you fail once you try again, and if you fail a second time you continue to try.
"I hope that more changes are made to try and bring all the teams closer and create better equality throughout the racing space. It's my hope we can all be closer.
"Red Bull has walked away with it this year, they've done a great job."
Verstappen winning the title - this weekend at least - is unlikely, given he must win the race and outscore Leclerc by 22 points, while he also needs Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez to finish off the podium.
He told Sky Sports he "wasn't really" thinking about clinching the title at Marina Bay, the first of six races to finish the season.
"We just try to have a good weekend," said Verstappen. "To win it here would be nice, but it's not something I'm really thinking about."
Verstappen is on the verge of his second crown after Ferrari and Charles Leclerc's expected challenge rapidly fell away.
"In one way I would have liked them to still be in the fight," added Verstappen. "From my side, of course it's also nice to win it in a more calm way.
But I think what is good to see is that they are already very competitive this year compared to the last few years, and I think that's what F1 needed.
"I have to say that last year I always started like first or second, this year I've started like way back and I still won the race, so they've also been really rewarding."
Watch the spectacular floodlit Singapore GP live on Sky Sports F1 as Max Verstappen gets his first chance to clinch the title. The race begins at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up from 11.30am. Get Sky Sports F1.