Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has said that he hopes Lewis Hamilton does return to Formula 1 for the 2022 season, with the speculation over the Briton's future continuing to rumble on.

The 2022 campaign is drawing ever nearer with over half the teams revelaing the launch dates for their new cars and Hamilton is expected to be at the Mercedes unveiling in mid-February.

There has been plenty of talk, though, that the Briton is going to walk away from the sport over the way the 2021 campaign finished, with Red Bull and Max Verstappen obviously the main beneficiaries in Abu Dhabi.

By extension, Christian Horner was naturally delighted with the climax in December to the campaign, after a year full of drama and fierce battling up at the front between his team and the Mercedes'.

He admits, though, that he'd much rather 2021's arch foe remain in the sport for the coming campaign rather than not, given the sheer quality of rivalry and racing we witnessed over the past 12 months:

"I certainly hope that Lewis will be around this year," the Red Bull chief told World Is One News.

"He's still driving at an incredible level, the two drivers last year were in a league of their own.

"But ultimately, it's his choice, it's his career, it's his decision, so I'm sure he will decide to do what's best for him, what he wants to do, and that's none of our business."

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Certainly, there are plenty waiting with abated breath to see just what Hamilton is going to do for 2022.

Clearly, what happened in Abu Dhabi would have hurt deep and if he does feel as though he does not want to continue racing then you have to respect that decision - though it would be a massive shame for his stellar career to come to a close in such a fashion.

What racing fans want to see is a double motivated Hamilton back at the front of the pack, once again fighting it out with Max Verstappen and, if we're not asking for too much, a host of new faces in the mix including George Russell, Sergio Perez and the Ferrari and McLaren pairs of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz & Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo.

2021 will rightly go down as one of the most memorable campaigns in F1 history but, if we get the above mix, 2022 could be even better and that's what we want!