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'Hamilton now has Formula 1 exactly where he wants it'

'Hamilton now has Formula 1 exactly where he wants it'

25-01-2022 15:28 Last update: 16:52
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GPblog.com

Former Formula One driver Karun Chandhok, now an analyst with Sky Sports F1, is adamant that Lewis Hamilton will be on the grid this season and that the seven-time world champion has lost nothing in terms of speed or competitiveness.

FIA must come up with clarity

Chandhok, who drove eleven Grands Prix for HRT and Lotus in 2010 and 2011, the radio silence from Hamilton is mainly a matter of waiting for the FIA to fulfil their promise to investigate the goings-on in Abu Dhabi. According to Chandhok, the FIA needs to prove that Abu Dhabi was not a premeditated plan to deprive Hamilton of the title.

The Sky Sports pundit finds it frustrating that it all has to take so long for the FIA to come up with clarity. "It should be simple," he tells The Telegraph. Chandhok particularly wants to know what conversations race director Michael Masi had between the time the initial instruction was given that no cars put on a lap would be allowed to pass and the time the five selected cars did. And what led him to make those decisions?

Hamilton has F1 right where he wants it

Despite all the ambiguity surrounding Hamilton, Chandhok doesn't think the seven-time world champion will actually quit. "I'm pretty sure he's still angry, understandably so, but at the end of the day Lewis loves racing and loves winning. He's still at the top of his game." Meanwhile, Hamilton holds his team AND the sport in his grasp. "That's presumably exactly where he wants them."