'Very important' Hamilton feels 'comfortable' according F1 CEO
Feb.1 - F1's CEO hopes Lewis Hamilton is back in action in 2022.
Stefano Domenicali's latest comments come as the seven time world champion finally breaks his post title defeat silence - with a post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
"I wish you a Happy Chinese New Year," said the Mercedes driver. "May the New Year bring you good luck and everything you wish for."
Hamilton, 37, is currently on a break in Los Angeles, but Domenicali hopes he will soon be back in action for another close fight with new world champion Verstappen.
"Of course I very much hope the fight between them continues," the Italian told Auto Bild.
"In 2021, the interest was huge thanks to Max and Lewis. But I also hope that other drivers can get involved in the fight for the title.
"We currently have so many young and talented drivers - an extremely strong field. So the focus right now is whether the new cars will allow more drivers to fight for victories and the title," Domenicali added.
However, he acknowledges that Hamilton is "very important" to Formula 1.
"First of all, he faces an incredible task - to become the first driver with eight world championship titles. His attention will be focused on that. He also actively opposes racism," Domenicali said.
Rumours, however, have suggested Hamilton is contemplating retirement over the way the dying moments of the title finale in Abu Dhabi were handled by race management.
"It is important that he feels comfortable in Formula 1 - this is his place," Domenicali insisted. "This is where we and the fans want to see him."
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"It is important that he feels comfortable in Formula 1 - this is his place," Domenicali insisted.
I think that maybe F1 should take some hints from the ATP.
Now i think you mean Tennis?, but elaborate a bit Ror
Weibo ffs, how about doing one on the Merc site for ALL your fans
This is about MUCH more than whether Lewis feels comfortable in F1... it's about whether ALL the teams and drivers (and fans) can feel comfortable with a set of rules that they can trust so that team strategies don't get thrown out the window at the whim of a race director who is unpredictable and inconsistent. If that lesson isn't learned by the FIA then F1 will hemorrhage fans (and revenue).
I will bring it around again to Charlie W who had Masi as his deputy, now im sure CW didnt get everythingggg right , but he was respected and Masi placed as his deputy, which as it turned out was needed quicker than imagined, if Masi feels aggrieved by all this, then fair enough, the Fia asked him to step up , thought he was good enough, and ok mistakes have been made but not just by him , by Toto and Horny, which ultimately is the fault of the Fia for letting it happen... just a different view point on this , and yes i have said in prev posts Masi is toast and needs replacing before anyone butts in, we can all change our view in hindsight....
Shroppy, I agree with you on all of that... the Team bosses shouldn't be allowed to try to coerce the race director the way that Toto and Christian did. Hopefully that will be built in to the new regulations for this year.
As a 50 year F1 fan this will be the very first season that I'm not getting totally rev'd-up for the first race. I just couldn't care less tbh, the FIA have completely lost all credibility with a huge portion of fans. I cannot see anyway that Hamilton can race this year, as there is no way that the FIA will take all of the corrective actions needed. Massi is just the tip of the iceberg in this whole mess, and frankly I feel sorry for him. He was put in an untenable situation with pressure from both team principles, as well as the corporate F1 to put on a show. When F1 is no longer primarily a sport and its merely a ratings hungry entertainment package I'm out. I might take in the highlights on Netfix!
Why should only hamilton be happy surely it is more important for all the drivers to be happy If hampster ain't happy he can always p··· off and retire