Smoke out of the bag? Huge clues dropped ahead of Hamilton’s ‘08.08’ announcement
Is the smoke out of the bag, or should we say bottle?
After weeks of speculation, and fears he could be about to announce his F1 retirement, the cat appears to be out of the bag for Lewis Hamilton’s much-debated ‘08.08’ announcement.
And no, he’s not quitting the sport.
The smoke led us to…
Hamilton caused a stir last month when he posted a cryptic message on Instagram, teasing an announcement that would be made on August 8.
He posted a short clip that showed a matchbox on a table in a dimly lit room, emblazoned with ‘08.08’, before the clip moved onto a collage of black-and-white photographs of volcanoes and architecture.
In the accompanying caption, Hamilton wrote: “We’ve struck the match. Now follow the smoke.”
Fans on social media speculated as to what the announcement could be, many fearing it was his retirement given the Briton’s downbeat mood after the Belgian and Hungarian Grand Prix weekends.
The good news is, with 99.999% certainty, it’s not that. Not at all.
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Instead the announcement relates to Hamilton’s tequila brand, Almave.
Almave is a company co-founded by Hamilton, creating the ‘the first premium non-alcoholic blue agave spirit’.
Although Hamilton refused to give the game away when quizzed on the announcement at the HUngarian Grand Prix, saying “I can’t even give you a hint, no. You’ve got to follow the smoke”, Almave dropped a huge hint on Thursday.
Posting a clip on Instagram featuring the same ‘08.08’ as Hamilton’s initial post, Almave added: “From the smoke, a new spirit awakens. Are you ready?”
It’s not Almave’s first clue having posted five days earlier, “Smoke rises. Senses awaken. A new ritual is born.”
Official confirmation is yet to come, but for now Hamilton fans can breathe a bit easier.
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