Hamilton himself announced it with great fanfare on Twitter and Instagram on February 5 after almost two months of silence on social media: “I’m gone. Now I’m back!”
His fans celebrated as a title that the Englishman achieved with those posts more interactions than any publication from last December about the new champion Verstappen, but as if that were not enough, Mercedes also pulled social networks to reveal that “he has returned”.
The truth is that it was time to return, because the holidays for the pilots are over and it is time to face a new course. His anger after losing the World Cup, his sit-in to the press in Abu Dhabi, his absence at the FIA gala the following Thursday (against the regulations, will there be a punishment?) and his inactivity on networks caused rumours, perhaps with intentional leaks, that it could be removed.
But Hamilton renewed in February 2021 and that same contract extended it in July until 2023, so there was little doubt that it would continue.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have played again this year to take the media spotlight, as they already did in the 2020-2021 winter, suggesting that there was no renewal agreement. And the media and fans have bought it back and given it back to them. Goal achieved on your part.
Go ahead, you can’t criticize Hamilton’s use of social media if he decides not to post anything on his accounts for almost two months and then say he’s back. Or to shorten the phrase even further, nobody can directly criticize Hamilton’s use of social networks . The multi-champion uses his profiles to raise his voice and make his millions of followers aware of vitally important social issues and that should only be applauded.
But precisely that huge loudspeaker that he uses with such bravery and fairness on so many occasions could, for example, have been used to ask his fans to stop threatening Latifi for causing the Safety Car of the last laps in Abu Dhabi, or to stop the insults against Masi , the FIA , Red Bull or Verstappen for the outcome of the world past.
No, Hamilton is not responsible for what thousands of fans decide to publish on the internet, but a public message on his part would have helped to at least blush those disrespectful ones a little. He is honored to have called Latifi himself to show his support, and liked the Canadian’s post, but a simple message on his Instagram or Twitter account could have calmed the waters.
However, he decided to remain silent, without preventing the balls from getting bigger: the tantrum of his fans for the lost title and the possibility that he had gotten tired of everything and left Formula 1.
Fortunately for the sport and for everyone, Hamilton will be part of the grid for the vibrant 2022 season ahead.
There is a lot of desire to see how the World Cup unfolds, which teams find the key and what a super talent like ultra-motivated Lewis will be capable of. Hopefully it will be a year that will be remembered forever, like the previous one. And at the end of this course we will have learned twice the lesson, in winter there is a lack of news, the ego needs to be inflated and media attention is attractive. But there is Hamilton for a while.
