i want you guys to remember the absolute despair we were in as lewis fans in 2022, with 2021 fresh in our minds. remember what it was like when we didn't know if lewis would come back or not, and then he did but the car sucked. remember what it was like when he got lapped. when he got his back damn near broken every race. when it seemed like he was broken down mentally and had lost his spark.
now remember what it felt like when that turned out to be wrong. when we saw him on the podium again. when we saw him nearly get p2 in wdc in 2023 without a single win, and in a car he despised. remember silverstone 2024. remember his recovery drives in several races from 2022 to 2024. remember what he's like when he is on the hunt. remember that he did all this in cars he hates.
remember lewis being surprised that his fans still love him when he's not winning anymore. remember him having to grapple with abu dhabi 2021 and answer questions about it and have his mentality and competency questioned because of it. remember 2023 and 2024 and the way he was being treated by his own team, when they would not show up for his podiums, when they would put him on strategies that made no sense, when they did all they could to push him out the door.
and he is still here. he is still here in spite of everything this sport has put him through, not just in recent memory but from the first moment he decided he wanted to be a formula 1 driver. and he is still here. he decides when his story ends, when he's done. and until then, none of us who call ourselves his fans have a right to despair and cry about him being washed or his career being ruined. not when he is still picking himself up after absolute shit weekends, dusting himself off and getting right back into it. he has faith in himself. it's about time his fans have some, too.