Lewis Hamilton carrying no 'baggage' after dramatic Formula 1 title loss last season to Max Verstappen
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Updated 18/03/2022 at 14:05 GMT
Max Verstappen's controversial title-winning final lap at Abu Dhabi last season had reportedly left Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton considering his future in the sport. However he has now said that he does not have “any baggage” going into the new season, but hopes his car can improve upon last weekend's performance.
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Lewis Hamilton has said that he has not got "any baggage" from last season’s championship finale.
The 2021 season ended in dramatic circumstances when Max Verstappen seized the lead in the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, claiming his first world championship.
That left Hamilton on seven championships, level with Michael Schumacher, but the Brit insists he is not suffering from any hangover.
He said: "I don't hold any grudges. I don't have any baggage going into the season. It is important to let go.
"All I can do is try and shape what's ahead. I can't change the past."
Hamilton explained that he had a meeting with new FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem on Thursday, with a report from the governing body to be released on Saturday regarding the controversy.
"It is important that as a sport we are transparent and I had a good meeting with Mohammed last night," Hamilton said.
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"He agreed that's the direction we should take as a sport, so (I'm) looking forward to it coming out and for people to know the sport is transparent and we are learning from what happened in the past and are moving forwards."
As for on-track matters, Hamilton said that he hoped for a marked improvement on their efforts in testing last weekend, also in Bahrain.
"We have learned a lot through the test and I am hoping that my guys have come with some sort of solution this weekend," Hamilton added, "and I hope when I get into the car today it feels better. But we will still most likely have some of the problems we had last week."
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