Hamilton has now revealed that he even considered retiring following the controversial last lap of the race that saw him miss out on a potential record eighth F1 world championship. The Briton completely disappeared from the public spotlight after the race, and while he said that he was always determined to return, he has now admitted that there were moments he thought about walking away. “For sure, yeah,” said Hamilton when asked if an instant retirement came to his mind, after the disputable outcome of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP.
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“There was so much going through my mind during that period in time. But I think one of the worst things you can do is make decisions based on emotions, because when you are emotional and in the heat of that moment, more often than not, you’re not going to make the best decisions. Emotions were high, it was a really, really difficult period of time, so I had to just wait until things calmed down, and that I was clear in my thought and I was able to then make the right decisions,” revealed Hamilton, speaking to AutoSport.
Michael Masi, the race director at the center of the controversy, faced removal from his position after an FIA investigation delved into his mishandling of the safety car restart procedure during the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. The investigation revealed Masi’s deviation from the rules, allowing only the lapped cars between Hamilton (P1) and Verstappen (P2) to overtake the safety car. Moreover, he also departed from the standard protocol by restarting the race on the very next lap instead of completing another full lap behind the safety car after the lapped cars had repositioned themselves.