Lewis Hamilton has revealed for the first time since last year's controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix he felt "cheated" out of winning an historic eighth Formula 1 world title.
In an interview for the September issue of Vanity Fair, Hamilton described his emotions after losing the championship to Max Verstappen and even considered walking away from the sport. The Brit had looked assured of victory in Abu Dhabi, having led the race until a safety car was brought out with six laps to go.
But it was then that race director Michael Masi took the unprecedented step of improvising safety car rules to allow for a one-lap shootout between the two rivals to decide the outcome of the world championship. Verstappen, on a new set of soft tyres, passed Hamilton to take the race victory and the title.
"You see things start to unfold and my worst fears came alive," Hamilton said. "I was like, there's no way they're going to cheat me out of this. There's no way. That won't happen. Surely not.
"I don't know if I can really put into words the feeling that I had. I do remember just sitting there just in disbelief and realising I've got to undo my belts, I've got to get out of there, I've got to climb out of this thing, I've got to find the strength. I had no strength.
"And it was one of the toughest moments, I would say, that I've had in a long, long time. I knew what had happened. I knew what decisions had been made and why. Yes, I knew that something wasn't right."
Hamilton fell silent for several weeks after the race, sparking speculation that he was considering leaving F1 in the wake of the fiasco. In this new interview, he admitted he gave some serious thought to retirement.
"I, for sure, considered whether I wanted to continue," he said. But he did decide to continue his racing career, and instead of his retirement plan the 37-year-old is now thinking about adding more trophies to his already remarkable collection.
"I am still fighting for those things and I still feel I have plenty to go," he said in Hungary last month. "More likely than not, if I stop, I will still have fuel left in the tank. I don't think I'm going to go as far as completely burnt out and have nothing left but hopefully that's a long way off."
