F1 news LIVE: Lewis Hamilton return hint dropped by Mercedes

LIVE – Updated at 16:12

The 2022 Formula 1 season draws ever closer with Max Verstappen aiming to defend his maiden world title after a dramatic end to the 2021 season in Abu Dhabi to defy Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes’s greatness.

The Red Bull driver came out on top in one of the greatest sporting rivalries of all time, but the Belgian-Dutch driver is not assured of meeting Hamilton ever again on the track, with the seven-time world champion not committing officially to the new season, though the SIlver Arrows have dropped several hints that the Briton will be “back”.

The highly-controversial episode at the Yas Marina Circuit has led to the F1 Commission meeting in London this week, designed to allow the power brokers in the sport to discuss the controversial incident involving race director Michael Masi’s decision following Nicholas Latifi’s out and the safety car with five laps. Mercedes were especially bitter about the final-lap shootout and heads could roll to provide a satisfactory ending to this bitter saga. The results may not be published until the eve of the 2022 season in Bahrain in March. It has been reported that Hamilton’s future in the sport hinges of the outcome of the F1 Commission’s inquiry into the controversy

Elsewhere there is the excitement of F1 cars being launched for the new season, with the next set of covers set to be removed at Ferrari’s garage on Thursday.

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Mercedes have given the clearest indication yet that Sir Lewis Hamilton will continue his Formula One career this year, after months without any word from the racer over his intentions to return for the 2022 season.

Hamilton has kept a low public profile since the end of last term,