Lewis Hamilton set for 2022 title fight despite Abu Dhabi heartbreak

Lewis Hamilton made his long-awaited public return to assist Mercedes in the unveiling of its new Formula 1 car for the 2022 season, the W13.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has declared himself back and is ready for the 2022 championship battle as Mercedes presented its contender for the 2022 season, the W13 at Silverstone on Friday.

This comes as Lewis Hamilton lost the world title under controversial circumstances in last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale. The seven-time world champion had kept a quiet profile and has only recently returned to social media after a two-month hiatus.

Following the dramatic climax to last season’s finale, there were some worries about the Brit’s future. Despite a rough off-season, the 37-year-old claimed he was ready for a shot at an outright record eighth drivers’ championship.

Hamilton joined his new teammate George Russell as Mercedes-AMG formally introduced the Mercedes-AMG F1 W13 E Performance in a digital event on Friday morning.

As he spoke at the Mercedes car launch for the 2022 season, a day after Michael Masi was removed as F1 race director, Hamilton said that he was hungry for more success.

“I never said I was going to stop… but it was a difficult time for me and I really needed to step back,” the Mercedes driver said.

“Eventually I got to a point where I decided I was going to be attacking again coming into another season.”

The FIA investigated what transpired in Abu Dhabi and announced a series of steps to rectify the issue on Thursday including the removal of Masi as race director.

“Going into this year, I haven’t set any goals initially,” Hamilton added.

“I think naturally, every single individual within this team has worked towards the ultimate goal of winning the world championship, and again raising the bar and doing something that no-one else has done before.”