Lewis Hamilton unfollows everybody on Instagram

In yet another confusing instance, Lewis Hamilton has unfollowed everybody he used to follow on Instagram. The Briton's account still has over a thousand posts and over 26 million followers, but currently shows zero under 'followers'.

Lewis Hamilton currently follows nobody on the popular social media platform. The driver has always been known to be active on social media, posting stories and pictures almost every day. Rumors of his retirement from F1 abound after his controversial loss to Max Verstappen at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In light of this, his social media absence is concerning.

Earlier this month, the 36-year-old driver received his knighthood from the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle. Unusually, the driver did not post or comment about the occasion, despite usually being very active on social media. The seven-time world champion has completely vanished from the public eye since his final lap loss to Max Verstappen at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Many F1 fans consider this a consequence of a botched safety car restart by the FIA and race director Michael Masi.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff commented on Lewis Hamilton's mindset after the finale in Abu Dhabi, claiming the Briton felt "disillusioned" by the way the FIA carried out procedures in the race. He said:

"Lewis Hamilton and I are disillusioned at the moment. We are not disillusioned with the sport — we love the sport with every bone in our body, and we love it because the stopwatch never lies. But if we break that fundamental principle of sporting fairness and authenticity of the sport, then suddenly the stopwatch doesn't become relevant anymore because we are exposed to random decision-making, that it is clear you may fall out of love with. That you start to question if all the work you have been putting in — all the sweat, tears, and blood — can actually be demonstrated in terms of being the best possible performance on track, because it can be taken away randomly."

The statement by the Austrian executive has sparked rumors of the Briton's retirement from the sport. Many experts of the sport, such as David Coulthard, Nico Rosberg, and even Max Verstappen, however, believe he will be back next year.

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Lewis Hamilton unfollowed official F1 Instagram page before unfollowing everybody

Lewis Hamilton unfollowed the official F1 page on Instagram a few days before the drastic move to remove everyone from his follow list. The Briton also failed to attend both, the drivers' press conference after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the annual FIA Gala. Hamilton may face scrutiny from the FIA for missing the latter, which is mandated as per regulations.

After being overtaken by Max Verstappen on Turn 5, Lewis Hamilton was heard talking about the FIA 's handling of the race as:

“This has been manipulated, man.”

It might be too early to determine why Lewis Hamilton has unfollowed every single person on his Instagram. The act, however, appears to be an unintended consequence of the FIA's controversial handling of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

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