Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton has declared he will ‘rise again’ as the seven-time world champion finally addressed the farcical end to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which decided the epic 2021 Formula 1 world championship battle.
Hamilton seemed certain to win a record-breaking eighth world championship, moving clear of the seven he currently possesses alongside F1 icon Michael Schumacher. However, everything changed after Williams’ Nicholas Latifi crashed which led to a Safety Car with just a few laps remaining.
Former race director Michael Masi made the stunning decision to allow only the lapped cars between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Hamilton to overtake the Safety Car, allowing for a single lap of dramatic racing. The move was clearly motivated to ensure one of the greatest seasons in F1 history ended in a race.
As a result, with Verstappen on fresh soft tyres, Hamilton was a sitting duck as the Dutchman made a lunge at turn five to secure his maiden championship. Hamilton, like fans around the world, was left in disbelief, uttering over the radio: “This has been manipulated.”
Finally, Hamilton addressed the disappointment experienced in the championship finale. The 37-year-old was characteristically defiant, insisting he will ‘rise again’.
“My dad put a value inside me about never giving up, and the easiest thing to do is to give up,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “But it's not how you fall, it's about how you get up.
“In that moment for me, no matter how painful it was - and it was so, so painful - just knowing there would be a kid watching... me shaking his hand just shows there is strength within regardless and I'm going to rise again.”
Hamilton’s attempt to bounce back with another title challenge has been derailed by Mercedes’ struggles, primarily with porpoising. The octuple world champions had struggled with severe bouncing as their cars have been rattling uncontrollably following the new regulations and car designs implemented for the 2022 season, rendering Mercedes uncompetitive when it comes to fighting for wins.
Hamilton remains optimistic and was philosophical when discussing the challenges of 2022. He said: “I've come back into a season and I've been struggling all year, and I don't know why that is the case this year.
“There's all these other areas I'm strengthening that I didn't even realise I would have time to do. My whole life I've focused on... winning is everything, work towards winning. And so anything but, at times, has felt like a failure.
“I would say that actually I've learnt more from the failures. The success and everything is a beautiful thing but you learn way, way more when you stumble and fall.
“I used to dwell on things for such a long time, but now I'm able to move on and just apply myself better next time. Work harder, dig deeper, study more - whatever it may be.”
Do you think Lewis Hamilton will win a race in 2022? Let us know in the comments section.
Hamilton was able to secure a spot on the podium at his home British Grand Prix, a race he has won a record eight times, while Ferrari star Carlos Sainz took his maiden win at Silverstone. Championship leader Verstappen suffered damage to his car and only managed to cross the line in seventh.
However, Hamilton felt he could have recorded a stunning ninth win at Silverstone if luck was on his side. A slow pit stop saw him fail to undercut Sainz and Charles Leclerc in the dying stages, while he admirably battled Red Bull’s Sergio Perez but was narrowly pipped to second by the Mexican.
“I was doing good times and catching them up and had a really good, long stint and I really thought maybe we could fight for the win, but unfortunately the gaps were a bit too big and the pit stop was not very good,” Hamilton concluded. “At the end I struggled with the warm-up and lost out to two cars. It was so tough today.”
The 22-race F1 2022 campaign continues with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 10.
