Will Lewis Hamilton be back to chase a record-breaking eighth world title?
Lewis Hamilton celebrates his 37th birthday on Friday as puppeteer to an F1 community sitting cross-legged and eager-eyed in anxious wait of an update on his future, with clamour for resolution testament to a sport that needs its record-chaser, its activist, its face.
Radio silence in the wake of last-lap Abu Dhabi heartache has equated to an unofficial, perhaps unconscious ‘You wanted your headline, so here’s mine’ news sovereignty after dropping a retirement hint in his brief post-race presser.
“We gave it everything and never gave up and that’s the most important thing,” said Hamilton. “We’ll see about next year.”
Hamilton has not spoken publicly since, and yet the frenzy surrounding his next steps has seemingly eclipsed celebration of a first-time world champion in Max Verstappen; that being less a reflection of the talented Dutchman or the circumstances of his victory, but more so a reminder of the enormity and importance of F1’s most successful driver.
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Here is the moment Sir Lewis Hamilton was knighted by the Prince of Wales for his services to motorsport. He joins Sir Jackie Stewart, Sir Stirling Moss and Sir Jack Brabham as the fourth F1 racer to be knighted
Formula 1’s birthday boy and recently-knighted seven-time champion signed a new two-year contract last summer, which kicked in this month, and admitted in September he had considered retirement in the past, noting “there’s other things that I’d like to do, normal stuff I want