F1 fans reacted to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff recalling how Lewis Hamilton quickly recovered after the controversial 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The 2021 F1 season was one of the most intense ones in the sport when Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton faced off against Red Bull and Max Verstappen for the constructors' and drivers' championships. The entire fan base found the final lap of the final race to be rather tantalizing as the battle for the drivers' title came down to it. However, a few dubious choices by race officials led to the situation where both drivers had to compete against one another on the last lap.
These questionable decisions by race stewards caused a massive stir in the community and in the paddock, particularly because Hamilton had a clear lead in the race, but the decisions allowed Max Verstappen to close the gap to the Brit, during safety car, with ease.
After Verstappen won his maiden world championship, Hamilton was visibly dejected and emotional. According to Toto Wolff, however, the Brit recovered quickly after the race when he went on his off-season holiday.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Toto Wolff explained how Hamilton quickly left the F1 world to take a break with his friends in the Caribbean. The driver's friends assured Wolff that he was 'okay' and was enjoying his vacation by participating in various adventure sports.
"Lewis and I speak a lot, we text a lot, all along. And I knew he was in an ok place because he immediately left, spent some time in the Caribbean after that race, was doing sports and kite surfing," Wolff said at 30:15.
"He went to some friends' place in the Caribbean and they told me he's okay, and he took his distance [from the sport]," he added.
After hearing this, many fans were unimpressed by how Toto Wolff brushed off Lewis Hamilton's mental state after the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP. They discussed that the Austrian billionaire needs to stop talking about the seven-time world champion. One even claimed that Hamilton's friends did not tell Wolff anything because they knew he did not care.
"He needs to stop talking about Lewis," one fan said.
"The friend didn’t bother telling you the truth about how Lewis was really feeling because he knew you didn’t care, you were out partying that night, Toto," another added.
Some fans were quick to mention what Lewis Hamilton's close friend, Mellody Hobson, had to say about the driver's mental state after he lost in 2021.
"This is what Mellody said," one follower pointed out.
"Is he [Toto Wolff] for real ?! He was good cause he was in the Caribbean with friend ? That’s what the friends has to say," someone chimed in.
Lewis Hamilton's friends share the seven-time world champion's mental state after AD2021
While Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said that Lewis Hamilton's friends told him he was "okay", those friends explained the driver's mental state differently.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Mellody Hobson, a close friend of Hamilton's, noted how the F1 driver was in a dark place after the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP. She and her husband, George Lucas, invited the seven-time world champion to the Caribbean to celebrate Christmas.
She explained that she made sure Hamilton did not make any rash decisions during this period as he could regret it afterward.
“He was in a dark place. And that’s when we spent a lot of time sort of going in and debriefing. And I just kept telling him things like: We make no decisions in times of great anguish or pain. You have to just sit with this, and it’s going to be hard and uncomfortable. But there’s nothing to be done at this moment. So do nothing. This is what you do, and you’re not done,” Hobson said.
After the Abu Dhabi GP in 2021, Lewis Hamilton took a break from everything and was even inactive on social media platforms. Right before the 2022 F1 season, he returned to the internet and posted his picture.