F1 news LIVE: Lewis Hamilton and George Russell launch Mercedes car alongside Toto Wolff

Wolff said: “Yes. absolutely. He is in love with the sport and we are ready to hunt for victories and hopefully the world championship. He is in the right mindset.

“It was not about the race director, or anybody else, but about Lewis making peace with how the race ended.

“Lewis is all about justice and sporting fairness and that wasn’t the case [in Abu Dhabi]. He needed time to reflect, he comes back strong and is in good spirits.

“The most important thing is that we move on. There has been so much discussion about Abu Dhabi – and for the right reasons because how the Grand Prix ended is not how a Formula One world championship should end – but the FIA has put in a new structure and we are happy about that.”

Hamilton will speak publicly for the first time since the contentious Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – and a day after Michael Masi was dropped as race director – when Mercedes launches its new car at Silverstone on Friday.

Hamilton said the race at Yas Marina on December 12 was “manipulated” after Masi seemed to bend the rules to allow the British driver’s rival Max Verstappen the chance to win the title following a late safety car.

The 37-year-old was disillusioned following the debacle in the desert and, at one stage, it was unclear if he would return to the grid.

But speaking to BBC Radio 4, Wolff said: “No, I was never worried – although you have to respect the driver is disillusioned after such an event. But we have a strong team and great support so I knew he was going to come back.

“We all were disillusioned because the stopwatch never lies and Lewis was clearly the best guy on track in Abu Dhabi, dominating the race, and then it is taken away by a single individual against all the rules so to digest that is very difficult.

“Like all of us, there was an initial shock. We have never seen anything like that so he had to walk away, and free his mind and think about something else, and start to work on those events and find a solution.”

Lewis Hamilton concedes he “lost a little bit of faith” following his agonising defeat to Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi to concede the Formula One title race.

While launching Mercedes’ new W13 car for the 2022 campaign alongside new teammate George Russell, Hamilton spoke candidly about the uncertainty surrounding his future.

The 37-year-old has since reignited his desire to win an eighth world title to break a tie with Michael Schumacher.

“There was a moment when I lost a little bit of faith in the system,” said Hamilton.

“But I am generally a very determined person.

Hamilton was beaten to the title on the final lap of the season after race director Michael Masi allowed some but not all cars to unlap themselves under a late safety car to set up a dramatic shootout for the championship.

Hamilton appeared alongside new teammate George Russell as Mercedes unveiled their 2022 car at Silverstone on Friday, ending months of uncertainty surrounding the 37-year-old’s future in the sport.

Karun Chandhok has dismissed overturning the result of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix result despite Michael Masi being dismissed from his role as race director.

The ex-Formula 1 driver believes Max Verstappen should not worry about further repercussions, despite the FIA have admitting procedural errors were made that led to Lewis Hamilton missing out on his eighth world title.

“I don’t believe the result should be overturned,” Chandhok told Sky Sports News.

“I think there are too many variables involved in that process just to clearly say ‘if the lapped cars had been left there, Lewis would have 100% won’.

“I don’t think you can definitively say that. Even Mercedes would definitively not be able to say that. So I don’t think the result can be overturned.”

The car features sleek, swept-back aerodynamics and bigger 18-inch wheels, sporting the 2022 look ushered in by a radical rules overhaul aimed at improving wheel-to-wheel racing.

McLaren, who also launched their IndyCar challenger and their Extreme E team on Thursday, returned to winning ways last season with Ricciardo handing the team their first Formula One victory since 2012 at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

Hamilton was on course for a record eighth F1 championship before a safety car deployment saw his huge race lead cut. FIA race director Michael Masi then applied a controversial interpretation of the rules to create a final-lap showdown, which Verstappen won on fresher tyres.

“Losing the title on the last lap like that, it’s just hard to accept,” Sainz, who finished third, told Corriere Della Sera. “I respect [Hamilton] more than before for the way he managed to do it. We had a few words on the podium, he was really struggling.”

Sainz said he “felt bad” for Hamilton and called on the sport’s authorities to do more to ensure such contentious situations didn’t cloud results in the future.

“We must not repeat the same mistake,” Sainz added. “Every football match generates controversy. We need to prevent F1 from approaching that kind of tension. But I don’t think the situation is disastrous, I’m convinced that it is improving.”

Formula One driver Nicholas Latifi has revealed he took the drastic step of hiring personal bodyguards on a trip to London after threats were made against his life following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

And Latifi, 26, said the abuse was so extreme that he took out personal security on a visit to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland with his model girlfriend Sandra Dziwiszek.

“It sounds silly to some people but at the end of the day, you don’t know how serious people are,” said Latifi.

“All it needs is one drunk fan at an airport, or you bump into someone who is having a bad day and they are intoxicated under the influence of something and they have these really extreme opinions. It takes just that one-in-a-million person.

The pair went toe-to-toe throughout the 2021 season and pushed each other so hard they went into the final race of the season on equal points. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix turned into one of the most controversial sports moments as Verstappen overtook Hamilton on the last lap.

Race director Michael Masi allowed some cars to unlap themselves and others not after a safety car was deployed. This meant Verstappen was right behind Hamilton and an inquiry into the race is underway.