Lewis Hamilton has finally broken his silence on social media, with a simple post to say “I’ve been gone. Now I’m back!”
Hamilton posted a photo of himself on Twitter and Instagram at the Grand Canyon in America, in his first post on the platform since after qualifying in Abu Dhabi – a gap of almost two months without any kind of public statement.
Whether or not this confirms his return to Formula 1 next season is currently unclear, but he has finally spoken for the first time since the dramatic finale of the season that saw him passed on the last lap byMax Verstappen, being beaten to the World Championship in what was one of the most controversial moments in modern Formula 1 history.
这些是汉密尔顿的我们的预期rds, his post gained more than 500,000 ‘likes’ in less than 30 minutes, with the Twitter post being ‘liked’ more than 100,000 times in the same period.
I’ve been gone. Now I’m back!pic.twitter.com/Y8i0cgJXZq
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton)February 5, 2022
Speculation has continued to swirlaround whether or not the seven-time World Champion will come back to the sport, given that he felt the final lap in Abu Dhabi had been “manipulated” to put Verstappen in a position to attack.
The lapped cars separating the two World Championship challengers were allowed to pass the Safety Car in what has become an infamous moment in the season, in a decision by race director Michael Masi to enable a final racing lap after Nicholas Latifi’s Williams had been cleared away after he crashed out.
Verstappen, on much fresher tyres, took the opportunity to pass Hamilton on the worn hard compound and won the race and his first World title.
After a brief interview after the race and congratulating Verstappen on his title, Hamilton had been silent ever since until his post on Saturday evening.
An internal investigation by the FIA is now underway to establish whether or not Masi and Race Control followed their regulations set out regarding lapped cars passing the Safety Car, given only a select number of cars were allowed to pass and one racing lap remained.
The results of the investigation are not expected until 18 March – the beginning of the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend, andMercedes’car launch will take place a month beforehand, so seeing whether or notHamiltonattends will be the next clue as to whether or not he will carry on and partner George Russell at the team in 2022.