Lewis Hamilton’s possible retirement from Formula 1 continues to be a hot topic in the paddock today. The British driver lost his eighth world title on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Max Verstappen took advantage of Latifi’s safety car to get in his wake.
The Red Bull rider, with newly fitted soft tires, overtook the inside of turn 5 at Yas Marina and became world champion for the first time. Since then, Hamilton has not appeared on social networks, where he usually expresses his opinions, even unfollowing all accounts on Instagram .
By not commenting on the matter, the rumors about a possible withdrawal of the seven-time world champion have not ceased. The last to speculate about it has been Bernie Ecclestone , who was the boss of Formula 1 for several decades.
The 91-year-old Briton, in an interview with the Swiss newspaper Blick , said that he had not yet had the opportunity to chat with Hamilton, but with his father: “A few days ago I spoke with him [Anthony Hamilton]. At the moment I noticed that I wouldn’t answer any questions about your child’s future. We just talk business!”
“I don’t think he will come back, his disappointment is too big, and you can understand that. Now would be the perfect time to fulfill his dream of being a fashion entrepreneur with seven world titles, like Michael Schumacher,” Ecclestone said.
The English businessman was at the helm of Formula 1 from the 1970s until 2017, when the American company Liberty Media took control.
Ecclestone experienced many situations in all those seasons that he served as president and CEO. But he never imagined that Verstappen and Hamilton would play the World Cup to one card in the last round of Abu Dhabi after arriving tied.
Although the finish was worthy of being described as one of the best in F1 history, the British veteran acknowledged that it could have been managed better by Michael Masi : “A lot of things went wrong on the last lap.”
“The race director could have saved himself some trouble if he had red-flagged the test after Latifi’s accident. It would have been a super finish between Max and Lewis for the last three laps.”
