Lewis Hamilton had not posted anything across his social media pages since the controversial end to the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP.
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Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton broke his near two-month self-imposed exile on social media on Saturday (February 5).
Hamilton had not posted anything across his social media pages since the controversial end to the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP.
Incidentally, his last post before Saturday was after qualifying for the season-ending race came to a close.
The Brit posted a picture of himself at the Grand Canyon with a simple six-word caption: “I’ve been gone. Now I’m back!”
I’ve been gone. Now I’m back! pic.twitter.com/Y8i0cgJXZq
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) February 5, 2022
That said, it is still unclear whether or not Hamilton will be at the grid for the 2022 season. As things stand, he is signed with the Mercedes F1 team for two more years.
However, talks of him walking away after the way the 2021 season ended have not died down. And while he returned to social media, he did not confirm his participation in the upcoming season.
Hamilton was on course for a record-breaking eighth F1 driver’s championship in 2021. And, despite Red Bull’s Max Verstappen being the favourite, Hamilton had clawed back in the final few races.
He took a stupendous win at Brazil before also winning at Qatar and then Saudi Arabia. This saw him claw back the deficit to the Dutchman and the two were level on points going into the season finale.
He qualified P2 on Saturday but made the better start on raceday and wheeled into the lead. Despite struggling with his tyres late in the race, the win appeared to be in the bag.
However, things changed when Williams driver Nicholas Latifi suffered a crash towards the end of the race. This brought out a Safety Car – and Verstappen pitted for fresh soft tyres.
Hamilton, who was on worn hards, could not have pitted or he would have ceded track position. But given Verstappen had only lapped cars behind him to worry about, it was a risk he could take.
And it was a risk that paid off – although not in the way anyone would have expected.
Race director Michael Masi controversially ordered only the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen to unlap themselves.
Thus, with one lap left, the championship was decided in a shootout of sorts. Hamilton, who was on older tyres, stood no chance.
After the race he said “we’ll see about next year” during his mandatory interview. And since then he’s maintained radio silence on the topic of coming back.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also said his star driver felt ‘disillusioned’ with the sport, further prompting retirement talk.
However, the team are launching their 2022 car on February 18 – and Hamilton is expected to be present at the event.
