Lewis Hamilton, a driver for Mercedes, acknowledges that his retirement from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix "sums up the whole year," as 2022 was the first year in Formula 1 history to end without a victory.
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The seven-time world champion endured a challenging season as Mercedes battled with its problematic W13 to stay on top of the 2022 car regulations. George Russell, Hamilton’s teammate, did manage one victory, but Hamilton finished the season without one for the first time in his F1 career. With a best of second on five occasions, Hamilton collected a total of nine podium finishes. In the early stages of Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton struggled with what he believed to be car damage. On the first lap, while battling Carlos Sainz of Ferrari, Hamilton ran off the track and was propelled over a curb.
He was running fourth until he was forced to retire on lap 55 of 58 due to an unidentified problem; as a result, he finished sixth, which was his worst championship finish ever. In his post-race reflections, Hamilton states that despite his car issues, he always felt he could win a race in 2022 and is now “quite delighted that it’s finished.” When asked if there was a period this year when he was content with not winning a race, he responded, “I always believed right up until the last race that there was potentially a chance.
“I believe it’s critical to maintain optimism and to simply keep working. “I gave it all, and in the end, I think the last race summed up the entire season. I’m glad it’s over now. Of course a victory would have been fantastic. One victory is not really sufficient, is it? “I believe that this year, getting our first fifth seemed like a victory. “It felt like a win when we finished fourth, and it felt like a win when we finished first on the podium. “I’ll just cherish those seconds because they make me feel like we accomplished something.”
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Hamilton believes that even though 2022 ended without a victory, 2011 was his most difficult F1 season. Even though he won three races while driving for McLaren, he came in fifth in the standings. No, he said, “I think 2011 was perhaps the roughest year that I’ve had.” “This year probably isn’t the best in terms of life alone. It’s among the three worst seasons ever, but I believe I performed much better this year in terms of how I interacted with the team and remained united. So, this year has been very positive overall.
