Wolff: It's uncertain if Hamilton will return to F1 next season

Mercedes team manager Toto Wolff said he could only "hope" Lewis Hamilton decided to stay in F1 after a setback in Abu Dhabi.

A dominant Hamilton looked set to record a record eighth world title in the final race of the 2021 season, but the end of the race suddenly changed, with Nicholas Latifi crashing and the safety car on the move. Then before the final lap, the car between Hamilton and second-placed Max Verstappen was allowed to unwind, clearing the way for the Dutchman to attack Hamilton with the old hard tyres on the final lap. It can be said that this decision affected the attribution of the drivers' championship.

Wolfe said at a press conference that at this stage, he cannot be 100 per cent sure whether Hamilton will return to F1 next season.

He said: "I very much hope lewis can continue to compete because he is the greatest driver of all time and from the perspective of the last four races, he has dominated. Who wins the game and who deserves to win the world championship, there is no doubt about it. As a racing driver, his heart would say 'I need to move on' because he was at his peak, but he had to overcome the pain of the closing battle because he was also a man with clear values and it was hard to understand what was going on. ”

Wolff also said he and Hamilton still felt uncomfortable about Sunday's final lap, believing it was something Hamilton would never be able to overcome.

Wolf said: "Lewis and I am now disillusioned, we are not disappointed in the sport, we still love the sport with all our hearts and minds because the stopwatch never lies, but if we break the basic principle of sports fairness, then the stopwatch will suddenly become less important because we will be faced with random decisions and obviously you will not fall in love with it." So it's going to take us a long time to digest what happened on Sunday. I think we never forget, it's impossible to forget, and as a driver he certainly won't. I very much hope that the two of us and the rest of the team will be able to play a role throughout the race and we can use the situation with the FIA and F1 to improve the sport, but he will never be able to overcome the pain caused by Sunday. Honestly, to this day, I don't know what's going on, I don't believe it, and it still feels surreal. ”