Lewis Hamilton needs a year off to heal old scars after losing to F1 title Max Verstappe

Formula 1: Jenson Button on rumours of Lewis Hamilton retiring

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Lewis Hamilton may be “back” after taking a 56-day hiatus from social media after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but Mark Webber believes the British racing superstar needs “a year off”. The drama which unfolded in the final laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix back in December resulted in anger and fury inside the Mercedes garage.

Toto Wolff admitted in the aftermath that Hamilton was “disillusioned” with the sport in which he’s won seven World Championships and was on the verge of a record-breaking eighth.

Fears emanated out of Mercedes that Hamilton would walk away from F1 for good.

But the 37-year-old ended his break from social media at the weekend in his biggest hint yet that he will be back for the upcoming season.

Mercedes appear confident too that their star driver will be ready for the battle with Max Verstappen once again having jumped on Hamilton’s return to social media.

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The Silver Arrows will unveil their new-look W13 next week with the drivers taking to the track in their new cars at the end of the month.

With drastic changes being made to the regulations from this season, little is known on whether the grid will be altered in any way.

There is already some suggestion that Ferrari could close the gap to Mercedes and Red Bull this year.

Hamilton has said repeatedly that he embraces the challenge on the grid, but Webber believes the seven-time world champion will still be recovering from the events at Yas Marina Circuit.

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“It’s hard, I think we need a year off. They need a year off. There’s still some old scars there that need some healing,” Webber told Wide World of Sports.

“That might be done after their careers, they can have a red wine together.

“But while they’re racing against each other they’ll be big rivals, and that’s what we want in the sport.”

The likes of David Coulthard, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button have all expressed their sympathies for Hamilton at the way he lost in Abu Dhabi.

And Webber sits on the same fence, insisting even the greatest athletes would struggle to cope with how that panned out.

“It was a really tough finish for him mentally, at the end of last year,” Webber added.

“He led 99 per cent of that race, to lose it the way he did, it doesn’t matter who you are, it’s a big pill to swallow.

“He felt he was robbed on the last lap, because he couldn’t fight. He had nothing to fight with, and it wasn’t through his own doing. He was fighting against something that was an outside force.

“When it’s Max Verstappen on fresh tyres it’s a real challenge.”

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