Source: Lewis Hamilton’s Twitter
One year ago today, Lewis Hamilton ended his post 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix media silence. Mercedes remembers his return: “You just had to be there.”
After the contoversial finish of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which saw race director Michael Masi ignore the rules of the Safety Car, essentially handing the 2021 title to Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton embarked on a period of media silence.
After the race, Lewis only made one public appearance at his knighthood ceremony back in December, and one additional semi-public appearance at Mercedes’ factory in Brackley, during the team’s Constructors’ Championship win celebration and Valtteri Bottas’ farewell party.
In addition, Lewis did not any public statements except when Sky announced its donation to his charitable foundation Mission 44. He also stopped posting on his social media channels.
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This, coupled with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff’s comments that he ‘hopes’ Lewis will return to Formula 1 in 2022, led to widespread media speculation about the Briton’s future.
Ultimately, on February 5, after 56 days of silence, Lewis posted a photo of himself at the Grand Canyon on social media, along with the message: “I’ve been gone. Now I’m back!”
A year later, Mercedes decided to mark the occasion by reposting Lewis’ original post, along with the words: “You just had to be there.”
It really was a hard time for fans of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes, as coming to terms with the injustice that happened in Abu Dhabi was a hard pill to swallow. This made Lewis’ return even more spectacular and brought much needed relief to his fanbase.
You can take a look at Mercedes’ post below.
You just had to be there. 👌 pic.twitter.com/6ZFzWmicNa
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 5, 2023
