Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg believe Lewis Hamilton will feel he has unfinished business in Formula 1 and the pair would be surprised if he walked away from the sport; new FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem also set to investigate Hamilton's decision not to attend FIA prize-giving gala
Friday 17 December 2021 20:25, UK
Sky F1's Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg expect Lewis Hamilton to return to the sport in 2022 to try and reclaim the world crown from Max Verstappen.
Both former world champions spent part of their respective careers as team-mate to Hamilton, Button for three years at McLaren and Rosberg for four seasons at Mercedes.
Uncertainty was cast on Hamilton's future by Toto Wolff on Thursday after the Mercedes chief admitted that both he and the seven-time world champion currently felt "disillusioned" about the controversial events of last Sunday which ended with Verstappen claiming the world title on the final lap.
"Anything is possible as we all know in sport. We are very emotional characters and tensions run high," said 2009 champion Button to Sky Sports News on Hamilton's future.
"Personally - I don't know Lewis that well now, I knew him seven or eight years ago - but I wouldn't see him walking away, especially as he's just lost the world championship, I think he will come back fighting next year and we'll be back on, game on in March."
Rosberg, the 2016 champion, said: "It was heartbreaking for him, absolutely, because up until four laps from the end he was almost certain to be world champion.
"Then with this change of procedure or whatever you want to call it, suddenly he lost the world championship. So it was tough, it was extremely tough.
"But of course I do count on him being back on the grid next year and fighting to get back that world championship that kind of got taken away from him in a way."
Hamilton is contracted to Mercedes until the end of the 2023 season, having signed a new two-year deal in the summer.
Asked if he was hoping to see Hamilton and Max Verstappen renew rivalries in 2022, Rosberg added: "We really hope. Of course I'm not the guy to be saying that because I also disappeared into the distance after I won a title so it really wouldn't be fair to say that, but I do hope that Lewis and Max will go at it again next year.
"It was just so amazing, those two guys. Lewis used to be, or is, the best wheel-to-wheel racer and here comes Verstappen who is really taking it to him in wheel-to-wheel racing and sometimes even being better than him.
"It's incredible to see their skill and to watch them go at it. They're like on their own planet, they are well beyond everybody else. So I do hope we see it again next year. But there are completely new regulations next year so there could be another team in the mix as well. So I think we're in for another great season next year."
Button and Rosberg were speaking in Dorset ahead of the season-ending Extreme E event this weekend, where the latter's team will go up against Hamilton's for the inaugural title in the climate-aware series.
Hamilton has not spoken publicly since his immediate post-race interview with Button after Sunday's race.
He has, however, attended Windsor Castle this week to be knighted, while Mercedes posted images of the seven-time champion attending events at their Northamptonshire bases alongside Wolff and Valtteri Bottas on Friday where they celebrated the team's record-extending eighth successive constructors' title.
But neither Hamilton nor Wolff went to Thursday night's FIA prize-giving gala in Paris. The top three drivers in the championship are required to attend according to the Sporting Regulations.
Newly-elected FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem was asked on Friday about Hamilton's non-appearance and, while expressing sympathy for how the Briton was feeling in the wake of Sunday, was also quoted by PA Media as saying: "If there is any breach, there is no forgiveness on this."
But also saying rules could always be improved, he added: "Forgiveness is always there but rules are rules.
"They are there to be improved but we have to look if there is any breach. It doesn't stop us from making a champion feel good about the sport."
