Lewis Hamilton ‘feels absolutely robbed’ by 2021 F1 season conclusion

Hamilton considered his future at the end of the season but has sent a warning to his rivals that they have yet to see his best

Lewis Hamilton feels “absolutely robbed” by the ending to the 2021 F1 season and will be motivated to reclaim his crown from Max Verstappen this year, it has been claimed.

Hamilton was beaten to the title by Verstappen on the final lap of the season in controversial circumstances which have since seen race director Michael Masi removed from his post for how he allowed the closing stages of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to unfold.

There were doubts during the off-season over whether Hamilton would return to Mercedes but the 37-year-old sent a warning to his rivals that they have yet to see him at his best as he hunts for a record-breaking eighth championship.

Hamilton won three races in a row over the closing stages of last season to set up the title-decider at the Yas Marina Circuit and has been backed to use the pain from finishing second to Verstappen in the standings to fuel a title charge this year.

“There will be nothing more than Lewis wants from this season than to destroy Max Verstappen,” former F1 driver and pundit Anthony Davidson said on Sky Sports.

“Let’s not beat around a bush, he feels absolutely robbed as to what happened last year in Abu Dhabi, he wants to come out with a dominant car and he doesn’t even want to see Max on track, I’m sure.

“He just wants to show him a clean pair of heels, disappear off into the distance and win his eighth world championship.”

Hamilton insisted at the launch of the Mercedes 2022 car that he had never considered stepping away from the sport despite the heartbreak of missing out on the title.

The Briton added: “If you think what you saw at the end of last year was my best, wait until you see this year.”

“When Lewis Hamilton comes out with a sentence like that, you have to take notice,” Davidson said.

“He sure is fired up to win this thing once and for all and I think he’ll be hard to beat. He’s certainly coming into this season with a very bullish mentality.”