Lewis Hamilton has broken his social media silence, strongly hinting that he will return for the 2022 Formula One season.
“I’ve been gone. Now I’m back!” He wrote to caption a photo of himself at the Grand Canyon.
It was the first time Hamilton’s social media pages had been active since his controversial loss to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the final race of 2021.
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Hamilton lost a record-breaking eighth world championship to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the final lap of the season-ending race after confusion surrounding the correct and consistent application of safety car procedures in the final moments.
In mid-January it was unclear if Hamilton, 37, would return to the sport.
“With 69 days to go until the first Grand Prix in Bahrain, it is still unclear whether Lewis Hamilton will be on the grid,” Sky Sports News’ Craig Slater said at the time.
“In terms of Hamilton coming back to Formula 1, having the appetite to do so and getting over the ‘disillusionment’ that his team boss Toto Wolff said he felt after Abu Dhabi, the onus is on the FIA to deliver on the pledge they made before Christmas to investigate the happenings on that final lap and to come up with some findings.”
While a photo alone isn’t a guarantee of anything, the fact that his racing team, Mercedes AMG Petronas, immediately re-posted the image as well as the resulting Twitter trend is a great sign.
The new season begins with testing in Spain later this month, ahead of the first Grand Prix of the season in Bahrain, in March.
Australia will host the third round of the event, from April 8 to 10.
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