He has made it clear that he is not thinking of withdrawing.
Lewis Hamilton has wanted to deny those who end his sports career due to his terrible start to the 2022 season, and has done so with a forceful message through social networks.
“Working on my masterpiece, I will be the one to decide when it is finished,” he posted on his Instagram account, along with an image of him surrounded by the tires he mounts on his car during racing weekends.
In this way, Hamilton tries to silence the most critical; to those who say he should have retired at the end of last season after being overtaken by Max Verstappen, like Helmut Marko. “We (Red Bull) have lapped him. Maybe he is thinking that he should have retired last year,” the Austrian said after the Imola GP.
Another of the regulars in the paddock, Ralf Schumacher, highlighted the good start to the season of Lewis’s teammate, George Russell, which is enough for the German to admit, in his column on Sky Sports Germany, that “Russell is the best driver (Mercedes) now. If things continue like this for the next few weeks, maybe there will be excitement within the team.”
Ralf, however, doesn’t think Hamilton will have to retire: “Lewis is still one of the best drivers, that’s for sure, although new cars require drivers to adapt. Hamilton is not used to that. Russell, on the other hand, He is a young driver and he is adapting better.
Jos Verstappen, Max’s father, also wanted to comment on what happened at Imola in his usual tone: “Honestly, I had fun watching Max lap Hamilton after what happened last year. Hamilton is going through a bad time, while his teammate George Russell seems to have him more in control. You don’t usually get a chance to lap a Mercedes.”
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Mercedes has repeatedly reiterated its trust and support in Hamilton, who only asked Toto Wolff at Imola for the entire team to continue working hard to turn this situation around. A situation that, in view of Hamilton’s message on Instagram, will not lead him to retire.
The British driver himself, who in recent years has broken all F1 records, is tied for the number of world championships (7) with Michael Schumacher. And, although Lewis has not said it publicly, he sure wants to fight for a title again to become the most successful driver in history. Then maybe he will think about hanging on helmet.