"Deal with the consequences of his absence" - Kelechi on Lewis Hamilton's silence post-F1 2021 season finale

Black-British actor and writer Kelechi Okafor has commented on Lewis Hamilton's unusual silence after his historic loss to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in December. The actor claims the FIA didn't respect Hamilton's presence in the sport and hence should now deal with the consequences of his absence.

Okafor tweeted about the Briton's silence, saying:

“You can’t respect his presence so you’ll deal with the consequences of his absence.”

Her post was in reference to one of her previous tweets, where she claimed she found it 'funny' that the media is circulating old pictures of Hamilton due to the lack of new images. Her original post read:

“You have to understand that I have a weird sense of humor but it is absolutely cracking me up that everyone is using old photos of LH for promo because he is currently giving the girls nothing.”

Lewis Hamilton lost out to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix due to a mismanaged safety car decision by race director Michael Masi. Following the event, Hamilton vanished from the public eye and has even un-followed everybody on his Instagram account. The Briton has made only two public appearances since the race at Yas Marina — for his historic knighthood and to celebrate Mercedes' eighth constructors' trophy win.

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Toto Wolff claims Lewis Hamilton's loss still weighing down on the Briton and Mercedes

Toto Wolff and his team are still finding it difficult to digest the events that occurred at Yas Marina. The Austrian executive claims Hamilton will take his own time to come around after the principles of fairness were no longer applicable in Abu Dhabi. Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport in Germany, Wolff said:

“It runs very deep. Lewis (Hamilton), I, and the whole team are disillusioned. We love this sport because it’s honest. The stopwatch never lies. But when we break the fundamental principle of fairness and the stopwatch is no longer relevant, then you doubt this sport.”

Wolff claims Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton will never get over the loss they experienced in December. They will, however, try and work with the FIA to ensure such an event does not repeat. He said:

“It’s going to take a long time to digest that. I don’t think we’ll ever get over it, especially Lewis as a driver. We can at least try, together with the FIA, to do better in the future.”

With the Briton's return being contingent on the results of the ongoing FIA inquiry, fans and teams are unsure whether they will see their favorite driver return to the grid in 2022.

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