Christian Horner talks about raging speculations about Lewis Hamilton retiring after he lost the 2021 F1 title in Abu Dhabi.
Lewis Hamilton lost the championship title in Abu Dhabi after Max Verstappen was declared the winner of the last Grand Prix of the season. However, the circumstances in which Hamilton got snubbed for the title came out as questionable.
Since then Hamilton has kept his presence in front of the world minimal. Thus, speculations of his retirement have rooted out, with the Briton himself not giving any answers.
Now, with the new season is about to start, Hamilton’s retirement would also affect Red Bull, so far only positively. Reacting to the rumours, the Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hopes Hamilton returns to the grid.
“I certainly hope that Lewis will be around this year,” Horner told to WION. “He’s still driving at an incredible level. The two drivers last year were in a league of their own.”
“Ultimately, it’s his choice,” the Red Bull team boss added. “It’s his career, it’s his decision, so I’m sure he will decide to do what’s best for him [and] what he wants to do, and that’s none of our business.”
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Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen helped F1
In the tense 2021 seasons, the two title protagonists had several wheel-to-wheel battles. The hard-fought battles surely entertained the fans, and Horner agrees that it helped the sport grow.
“Sport is all about competition,” he explained. “When you’ve got serial winners, it becomes less attractive, so I think the fact that there was a big rivalry between the teams, between the two drivers [was appealing].”
“[At] every Grand Prix, there was very little to choose between the two of them. It was a fantastic year. It was the best year I think Formula 1 has had as a sport for probably 30 or 40 years.”
