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Lewis Hamilton had a gentle re-emergence to the public eye with his recent return to social media.
His comeback ‘on duty’ for Mercedes has been a lot punchier.
From admitting he lost a bit of faith in Formula 1 after the way he missed out on victory and the 2021 world championship in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, to explaining how he has refocused that into being the best we’ve ever seen him in 2022, Hamilton was on great form as he ended his silence at the launch of Mercedes’ new car last week.
Although Hamilton and Mercedes are not going to forget what happened last year in a hurry, they are keen to try to move on and seem fired up to do so in style.
While spending the time with family over the winter, Hamilton said he took time to digest what happened in Abu Dhabi, where he had the race win and an eighth title taken from his grasp because of a late safety car period and, ultimately, the way it was handled by the race director.
But Hamilton admitted he still didn’t fully understand everything. And while, as detailed here, it did briefly factor into his general process of considering his future, he was keen to quickly switch focus to enjoying some downtime and training.
“What he did was absolutely right to take himself out of the microcosmos of Formula 1 and step aside and black out socially,” said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
“And he has come back in a great mindset. He’s positive, he’s determined. And yet again the adversity that was thrown at him will make him stronger.
“It’s attack mode.”
Hamilton’s returned with feisty soundbites of his own, such as declaring he was “putting absolutely every ounce of my energy and time into making sure that I’m the best you’ve ever seen” of him.
It has echoes of when F1 changed its rules surrounding weight limits, and many drivers were able to stop focusing on weight loss. Hamilton pledged to become a different athlete in 2019, building more muscle, and by the time pre-season rolled around the change was visible.
That was a different kind of statement of intent that Hamilton delivered on but it played to a narrative of Hamilton seeing an opportunity to up his game and following through with that pledge.
It is hard to fathom how a 37-year-old who will surpass 300 grand prix starts this year can keep improving.
But one of Hamilton’s greatest strengths during his Mercedes career has been finding new ways to motivate himself so he can sustain his success.
Hamilton scored eight wins in 2021 and had Abu Dhabi played out differently that would have been nine, with an eighth title to boot.
The season also included what will likely go down as one of Hamilton’s career highlights.
At the Brazilian Grand Prix, Hamilton qualified fastest but had to start last in Saturday’s sprint race after a technical irregularity was discovered.
He overtook 15 cars to finish fifth in the sprint, then took another five-place grid drop for Sunday’s grand prix – which he won from 10th on the grid, passing Max Verstappen in the process.
At the time, Mercedes felt that typified Hamilton’s quality in the face of adversity, as the sense of outrage around his qualifying exclusion had pushed him to a higher level.
The Abu Dhabi injustice has played out over a very different timeframe, but Hamilton does appear to be channelling the same kind of energy again.
“I feel great, I feel fit,” Hamilton says. “Naturally, when you have an extra year of experience under your belt, that always helps.
“And I always feel like through these sort of experiences, you can turn that emotion into strength and into power.
“And that’s what I’m doing. I’m putting that into my training and putting that into the work that I have with the men and women here in this team.
“And if you think that what you saw at the end of last year was my best, wait until you see this year.”
When faced with something like Abu Dhabi there’s a fine line between turning it into a motivating factor and being so conscious of it that it becomes a burden.
But Hamilton has returned determined not to let anything negative fester from 2021. The only thing he wants to take from it is fuel for his 2022 campaign.
For example, Hamilton was asked how what happened late last year – particularly how Red Bull lobbied for the exact outcome that the FIA implemented in Abu Dhabi – would impact his relationship with Red Bull and Verstappen now.
“This is has nothing to do with Max,” Hamilton was quick to stress.
“Max did everything a driver would do given the opportunity he was given. And he’s a great competitor. And we will go into another battle like we did last year, we will obviously grow from our races and experiences we had last year also through the season.
“But I have no issues with him. I don’t hold any grudges with anybody. I never think that’s ever a good thing to carry around with you. So, I move forwards, I don’t dwell on the past.
“I feel fresh, I feel centred, and fully focused. I don’t have anything over my shoulders holding me back this year. I’m not letting that experience be one of those.”
That reiterates another point Hamilton made in the context of whether what happened in Abu Dhabi had made him contemplate retirement.
“Whilst moments like this might define careers, I refuse to let this define mine,” he said. “And so I’m focused on being the best I can be and coming back stronger.”
If anyone considers this just talk, Hamilton will delight in showing them otherwise.
