Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
I lost faith in a sport I’ve loved all my life
SAYS FORMER CHAMP LEWIS HAMILTON AS HE GETS READY TO RETURN TO F1
AFTER the heartbreak of Abu Dhabi, Lewis Hamilton surrounded himself with his nearest and dearest and wondered whether he could go through it all again.
In the most controversial fashion, he had been denied a recordbreaking eighth Formula One world title and final confirmation of his status as the Greatest Of
All Time had been cruelly denied.
During his two months away from the spotlight, Hamilton turned 37 and had to decide if he still had the desire and the motivation to fight one more time.
But more crucially, he had to decide if he could ever regain trust in a sport that let him down.
Serious
His boss, Toto Wolff, might say he never had any serious fears his driver would quit but it is clear Hamilton’s disillusionment with Formula One after the Abu Dhabi scandal ran deep.
Hamilton says: “Ultimately, in a sport that I have loved my whole life, there was a moment when I lost a little bit of faith.”
Hamilton will still not watch the events in Abu Dhabi when he was heading for championship number eight until race director Michael Masi allowed some cars to unlap themselves and give Max Verstappen, on fresher tyres, a last-lap title-winning run at the Mercedes driver.
“We cannot change the past and nothing will ever change the way I felt at the time. I still find it difficult to understand,” Hamilton explains.
“The experience was very clear and it replayed in my mind quite a lot in the coming weeks after the race.
“But I am a very determined person and while moments like this might define careers, I refuse to let this define mine.”
But Hamilton did admit the agony of Abu Dhabi was tough to deal with in the following weeks.
He says: “It was actually a difficult time, to be honest.”
But he managed to switch off and spend quality time with his family before then weighing up whether he wanted to carry on.
“I have thought about retiring lots of times,” he laughs. “Ah, no I haven’t… but at the end of a season, the question is whether you are willing to commit the time and the effort it takes to be a world champion.
“A lot of people underestimate what it takes to be a world champion — it is not just turning up and driving the car.
Question
“The question is do you want to sacrifice the time? Do you believe you can continue to punch at the weight you are punching?
“That’s a normal mental process but this one was compounded by a significant factor.”
But despite that significant factor, Hamilton is redoubling his efforts and believes he will be even better than last year when he won three out of the final four races.
Only the infamous call by Masi stopped him winning all four and, on Thursday, the Australian was removed from his position as F1 race director as part of changes implemented after an FIA review into the happenings in Abu Dhabi.
And Hamilton welcomed the changes, making it clear he considered himself the victim of serious wrong-doing.
He says: “It is good to see the FIA are taking steps to make improvements.
“Accountability is the key and we have to make sure this never happens to anybody else in this sport ever again. Trust can be lost in the blink of an eye or with the flick of a finger. To earn trust is something that’s built up over a long time.”
And despite everything, Hamilton still has enough trust to carry on and is looking forward to another epic duel with Verstappen.
“It had nothing to do with Max and Max did everything a driver would do given the opportunity he was given,” says Hamilton. “He’s a great competitor and we will go into another battle like we did last year.
Fresh
“And I feel fresh, I feel strong, I don’t dwell on the past and I’m only looking forward.”
Meanwhile, team boss Wolff says he will never forget the injustice of Abu Dhabi.
The Mercedes boss claimed Hamilton ‘destroyed’ the field in the final race of last season only to be denied.
That decision by Masi to allow cars to unlap themselves under a late safety car was decisive in the destination of the drivers’ championship. “We have to move on but we are not going to forget it because that is simply not possible,” said Wolff.
“Nothing was fixed… it was circumstances and decisions that were unprecedented and how they came about was a shock.
“Three laps to the end we got a message that said the cars were not allowed to unlap themselves.
“And three to four minutes later, there were two messages that came out of nowhere and then the Championship was gone, literally within half a minute of the decisionmaking process and that’s unprecedented.”
What happened in the background was that Masi was vehemently lobbied by Red Bull chief Christian Horner and seemed to change his mind, giving Verstappen his overtaking chance.
But Wolff claims the scandal has done the opposite and that Hamilton will be more driven than ever in 2022.
Mindset
“I think that adversity has always made him stronger, more resilient and more determined.
“And this is the mindset I see in the team. I think what Lewis did — to take himself away — was absolutely right.
“The adversity that has been thrown at him will make him stronger and, as he said, now… it is attack mode.”