Mercedes reveals Hamilton will be at this week's team launch
Feb.14 - It's now official - Lewis Hamilton has not quit Formula 1.
After weeks of speculation amid his total radio silence following the controversial 2021 title defeat to Max Verstappen, Mercedes has named George Russell and Hamilton as "our drivers" for 2022.
In a note to the media, the Brackley based team said reporters will have "the chance to hear from our 2022 drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, and our team principal and CEO, Toto Wolff".
The note was distributed ahead of Mercedes' 2022 car reveal late this week.
Russell, who has replaced Hamilton's former teammate Valtteri Bottas, warned that it will not be smooth sailing for the 2022 lineup this year.
"There's still a huge amount of improvement to be made to bring everything together and make it as nice as possible to drive," he said.
"I foresee a lot of people being in the same boat."
Early estimates warned of a 5-6 seconds per lap pace drop from the all-new 2022 regulations compared to last year's cars, but that now appears wide of the mark.
"I think at least initially they will be slower than the previous cars," Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz said.
"It is important to remember that the last generation of cars has been in development for a number of years, while the new cars have their first season ahead of them now.
"I think the development will be rapid and at some point we will see a big step forward. When a car that's more than 40kg heavier than its predecessor comes close to the performance of the last generation, that's an interesting proposition," the Spaniard added.
When asked about the handling of the 2022 Ferrari on the simulator, Sainz's teammate Charles Leclerc added: "We can't say too much about it because that would be feeding information to our rivals.
"But I can feel that the cars are heavier. Maybe that affects the pace too. They're slower than last year's cars."
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
Hurrayyyyyy, let battle commence I say
Indeed. A bit of chill in the early morning air, the smell of Spring, and everybody is at level zero. Fire 'em up and let's go play.
As if this was ever really in doubt. Smh. This is expressly why haters should stop jumping on the bandwagon of relics like Ecclestonage. It will only end with egg on thy face.
So Hamilton has thrown his toys back in his cot. Go Verstappen go.
I dont think I can stand another season of sir Lewis Hamilton & Toto wolfe F! racing because they are controlling it not the FIA, please go away and play with your fashion business and let us enjoy the younger generation of racers. PLEASE.
Can they "the fia" really take away verstappens title win just to please Hamilton, if it was the other way around mercedes and Lewis would have said right, we'll take that as a win like Silverstone. They can't do that.
Of course, he will.
We've yet to see what penalties Hamilton & wolfe will receive for not attending the fia presentation bash and the crowning of Max verstappen as the new champion its to much one sided.why are we all ways seeing Hamilton on the front pages and not max come on give us a break before we all start watching cricket. Lol.
Shame
✅ Checkout the latest 50 F1 Fans comments.