Former F1 driver Mark Webber has said that he is unsure as to whether outgoing champion Sir Lewis Hamilton will still be in the sport in 2022.
Hamilton lost the title in cruel fashion, with a late Safety Car and a controversial decision by race director Michael Masi helping Max Verstappen to claim his first world title.
Webber believes that Hamilton will be at the front next season, but he is unsure as to whether he will still want to be in Formula 1.
“I still think it will be Mercedes and Red Bull, by the way [on top in 2022]. Hamilton, no question about it, he will be in for a big chance of going again next year,” he told Channel 4.
However, Webber picked up on an interview Hamilton gave which the Australian understood as a suggestion that the seven-time World Champion may be looking away after this season.
“What was interesting though, I remember hearing Roger Federer at the Australian Open one year saying borderline ‘I might see you next year’. There was a little bit… Lewis on the end of his quote said ‘we’ll see about next year’, so who knows where his head is right now.”
Webber was full of praise for Hamilton’s father, Anthony, who was quick to congratulate Verstappen and console his dejected son.
“I think his father obviously would have been [using] words like the pride, the class, the dignity, ‘chin up, son, I’m proud of what you’ve done here’,” said Webber.
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Furthermore, the Aussie expressed his admiration for Hamilton’s clean racing ethos on the last lap while being passed by Verstappen.
“He also had a chance, when Max went past him, to put his little front wing right in that rear tyre,”
Mercedes have said they will contest the race result at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
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