Hamilton considered retirement after Abu Dhabi 2021: 'For sure'

Lewis Hamilton was offline for a while after the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. There was speculation that Britt might want to retire after losing the title race against Max Verstappen. The seven-time world champion admits to Autosport.com that an immediate retirement has haunted his mind.

Where the celebration was at Red Bull Racing, the disappointment and anger at Mercedes was great. On the very last lap of the very last Grand Prix, Verstappen overtook Hamilton, in perhaps the most exciting season of all time. Mercedes disagreed with the result, and protested, but to no avail.

After Hamilton's loss, many rumours circulated whether the Briton could still bring himself to get back in the car in 2022. The Mercedes driver now also admits he did think about it: "For sure, yeah. 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." Hamilton says he took his time and then made a decision.